Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal

Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal (also known as Geylang Lorong 1 Bus Terminal) is a bus terminal located in Kallang, bordered by Sims Avenue, Geylang Road and Lorong 1 Geylang. Formerly a fringe carpark for CSS services, the terminal now mainly serves as a terminating point for bus routes originating and terminating in the Geylang area, and serves nearby shophouses, HDB flats, Kallang Park Connector, Kallang MRT Station and the National Stadium via a 10-minute walk.

Details

The Terminal:

Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal is a bus terminal located at Kallang, bordered by Sims Avenue, Geylang Road and Lorong 1 Geylang. The terminal primarily serves as a terminating point for bus routes serving the Kallang and Geylang areas before branching out to the heartlands. It connects with Kallang MRT Station along the East-West MRT Line, allowing for convenient transfers between the rail network and bus services at the terminal.

Opened in May 1975, the terminal has a single vehicular concourse area, with an entrance along Geylang Road and exits leading to both Geylang Road and Lorong 1 Geylang. The terminal has a drop-off point for alighting passengers near the terminal entrance (grass patch), and a bus stop that functions as a bus waiting/boarding point at the terminal exit. For passengers-in-wheelchairs, boarding and alighting is conducted at the bus stop, as the drop-off point is not wheelchair-accessible.

Within the vehicular concourse, there are bus parking lots for the layover of buses, capable of accommodating rigid and double-deck buses. While articulated buses make an occasional appearance at the terminal, there are no dedicated articulated bus lots, and as such, these buses usually parallel park opposite the boarding bus stop. Terminal facilities include a container office cum drivers’ lounge for SBS Transit, SMRT Buses and Tower Transit.

The terminal, which is located within a carpark, shares its entrance and two exits with other vehicles, unique to any bus interchange or terminal in Singapore. Previously, SMRT Buses reserved the northern portion of the carpark for the parking of its buses as well as private buses owned by its subsidiaries.

Historical Background

Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal (also known as Geylang Lorong 1 Bus Terminal) was originally built as part of the Geylang Fringe Car Park. It was part of a Park and Ride scheme initiated in 1975, in tandem with the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme introduced that same year, which charged drivers entering the Central Business District (CBD). The P&R scheme encouraged drivers to park at fringe carparks, such as Geylang Fringe Car Park, and transfer to a shuttle bus into the city, hence reducing traffic congestion within the CBD. Shuttle buses ran by City Shuttle Service (CSS) operated routes to Shenton Way, Bras Basah Road and Orchard Road.

When the Park and Ride scheme fell out of favor with motorists, the number of CSS routes were reduced but the northern part of the carpark continued to operate as a small depot for Singapore Shuttle Bus (SSB), one of the two operators running CSS services. Later on, Trans-Island Bus Service (TIBS), the predecessor to SMRT Buses, would take over SSB and its facilities at Geylang Lorong 1.

In 1977, the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) moved its operations into Geylang Fringe Car Park from its nearby Lorong 5 Geylang Bus Terminal, and part of the carpark facing Geylang Road was converted into bus parking space. By the 1980s, the terminal was renamed Geylang Bus Terminal and later, Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal. As CSS folded up its operations, the terminal was shifted to TIBS control. The final CSS route was withdrawn in April 2007, leaving the maintenance facilities disused.

In 2013, the existing SSB facilities, including the bus stop for CSS routes built in 1975, were demolished as part of road widening works along Sims Avenue.

Future Bus Interchange

In August 2022, a “proposed bus interchange” next to Kallang MRT Station was featured in a map in the site of an upcoming HDB Build-to-Order flat in the Kallang/Whampoa area, scheduled to be open for bookings from November 2022. This was later revealed to be part of the Kallang Horizon BTO Project by Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, in a Facebook post.

This bus interchange will replace the existing Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal after its completion.

Bus Services:

Gallery (2017):

See Also:

• City Shuttle Service (CSS)

External Links & References:

• Interchanges and Terminals – SBS Transit
• Josephine Teo Facebook Post

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