Marina Centre Bus Terminal

Marina Centre Bus Terminal is a bus terminal along Raffles Boulevard and underneath the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. It serves as a starting and terminating point for bus services serving the Marina Centre region and the City, with no boarding and alighting allowed at the terminal. Night bus routes make up the majority of the route count at the terminal prior to their withdrawal in June 2022.

Operations commenced at the new facility capable of housing all bus services under one roof underneath Benjamin Sheares Bridge on 24 February 2021 with SMRT Buses. SBS Transit & Tower Transit commenced parking at the new facility on 27 February 2021.

Details

The Terminal:

Marina Centre Bus Terminal is a bus terminal located in the City area with no commuter facilities.

On 10 November 2017, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) revealed future changes to Marina Centre Bus Terminal with the release of Contract PT193 (Proposed Design and Construction of Bus Terminal and Associated Works at Marina Centre), which involved relocating the roadside parking to a permanent facility capable of housing all bus services under one roof. The contract was awarded to Tat Hin Builders Pte Ltd for SGD $5,750,000.00 on 7 Aug 2018.

The facility is situated underneath Benjamin Sheares Bridge, in between Raffles Boulevard and Raffles Avenue. With 24 bus parking lots, the new facility has sufficient room to consolidate all bus services under one roof. The terminal building contains offices, staff lounges, toilets, and other ancillary rooms.

The vehicle ingress is located at the south side, facing the Bayfront Bridge. The egress is located at the north side, facing the former Marina Centre Terminal.

SMRT Buses commenced operations at the new facility on 24 February 2021. SBS Transit & Tower Transit shifted over operations to the new facility on 27 February 2021.

No boarding and alighting activities are allowed at this terminal. The last stop for terminating buses is 02089 Promenade Stn/Pan Pacific and the first stop is 02101 Aft S’pore Flyer.

The NTWU Canteen at the bus terminal is open to the public.

Historical Background

Marina Centre Bus Terminal sits on land that was reclaimed in the 1970s. Construction on the reclaimed land only started in the 1980s, and following the construction of Marina Square and other developments, Marina Centre Bus Terminal was opened on 30 November 1986, taking over a temporary roadside terminal along Raffles Avenue in use since 24 November 1985 when Service 189 was extended to the Marina Centre area.

The roadside Marina Centre Bus Terminal previously occupied the leftmost and rightmost lane of the unidirectional Raffles Boulevard between Temasek Avenue and Republic Boulevard, with SMRT bus lots on the left, and SBS Transit lots on the right. As terminal facilities were only located on the right of the road, SMRT drivers were faced with the added trouble of crossing the road to reach the terminal kiosk. Both SBS Transit and SMRT buses had operator kiosks at Marina Centre Terminal beside each other.

In June 2015, the Marina Centre Terminal expansion opened, along with a public coach park, both located north of Raffles Boulevard (opposite the bus terminal operator offices). The new bus park, located directly opposite the existing terminal offices, had a total of 17 parking lots. As a result, roadside parking on the leftmost lane of Raffles Boulevard was abolished. SBS Transit, which moved all its operations to the new extension, built a container office with a portable toilet at the expanded bus park. SMRT took over the roadside lots along the rightmost lane of Raffles Boulevard comprising a total of 8 parking lots, which it operated till 24 Feb 2021, when they shifted into the new facility.

There were two parts to the terminal from 2015 to 2021, namely a roadside terminal occupying the rightmost lane of Raffles Boulevard (between Temasek Avenue and Republic Boulevard), and a newer extension built on the left side of Raffles Boulevard with a dedicated bus and coach park. Both facilities, opposite each other, are collectively referred to as Marina Centre Bus Terminal.

Previously, SMRT occupied the roadside lots, and SBS Transit occupies the new extension, with both operators operating out of separate terminal kiosks and toilets. Tower Transit, which does not have any facilities at the terminal, parked at the new extension and used SBS Transit’s facilities. Combined, there were 25 bus parking lots at the terminal.

Periods of Closure:

Due to the terminal’s proximity to The Float @ Marina Bay and Marina Bay, major events with road closures happen a few times every year and result in terminal closure. Most services will layover at 02089 Promenade Stn/Pan Pacific and loop via Temasek Avenue, calling at 02171 Opp The Ritz-Carlton. In the event of large-scale diversions such as Formula 1, refer to bus operators’ press releases for more information.

Bus Services:

Gallery:

New Facility (2022)

New Facility (2021)

New Facility Under Construction (2020)

Roadside Terminal & 2015 Expansion

External Links & References:

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