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. Passenger facilities are minimal, with just a sheltered bus stop for boarding activities. Drivers will usually alight passengers at an unpaved patch of grass near the terminal entrance before parking their buses, but for passengers-in-wheelchairs, boarding and alighting are 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, with portable toilets and a drink vending machine.

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

In the 1970s, Geylang Fringe Car Park was built as a bus terminus and depot for the Singapore Shuttle Bus (SSB). As part of the Park and Ride scheme initiated in May 1975, drivers were encouraged to park their cars at fringe carparks and continue their journeys into downtown Singapore via shuttle buses branded as City Shuttle Service (CSS), to reduce traffic congestion within the CBD. This scheme was initiated in tandem with the Area Licensing Scheme introduced that same year, a congestion charging scheme that charged drivers entering downtown Singapore.

On 16 May 1975, CSS services were launched. Between 16 May and 11 June 1975, SSB operated the short-lived CSS service 10 and peak-hour route variants 10A/10B. Following a reorganisation of CSS routes amid low demand, CSS service 9 was extended to Geylang Fringe Car Park on 12 June 1975 and would remain the only CSS service at the terminal for a long time until its withdrawal in 1988. The northern part of the carpark continued to operate as a small depot for the SSB. 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 bus bays were expanded to accommodate the new services via the conversion of former carpark lots facing Geylang Road. The first SBS services that moved in were services 5, 9, 46, 71, and 197. 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 Kallang Bus Interchange

Kallang Bus Interchange is expected to replace the current Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal after its completion.

In August 2022, a “proposed bus interchange” next to Kallang MRT Station was featured on 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.

Kallang Bus Interchange will replace the existing Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal after its completion.

Bus Services:

Gallery (2023):

Gallery:

Gallery (2017):

See Also:

• City Shuttle Service (CSS)

External Links & References:

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

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