Soon Lee Bus Depot (also called Soon Lee Bus Park by SBS Transit) is a multi-storey bus depot in Singapore’s Jurong Industrial Estate. It previously served as SBS Transit’s primary hub for bus maintenance, refuelling, and operations in the Jurong West region.
In September 2024, Soon Lee Bus Depot was handed over to the Land Transport Authority and leased to SMRT Buses, as the awarded operator of the Jurong West Bus Package (1st tendered term) under Contract PT218B.
| General Information | |
| Name | Soon Lee Bus Depot / 顺利巴士车厂 |
| Address | 28 Soon Lee Road, Singapore 628083 |
| Depot Information | |
| BCM Route Package | Jurong West Bus Package |
| Anchor Operator | SMRT Buses |
| Years In Operation | 2002–Present |
| Catchment | Jurong East, Boon Lay, Joo Koon, Tuas |
Soon Lee Bus Depot, also known as Soon Lee Bus Park or SLBP by SBS Transit, is a multi-storey facility located in the far west of Singapore. It serves as a hub for the maintenance and refuelling of buses operating in the Jurong West area. Situated along Soon Lee Road within the Jurong Industrial Estate, the depot spans approximately 26,670 square metres.
As Singapore’s first multi-storey bus park, the depot was constructed by SBS Transit for $57 million, replacing the former Jurong Depot at 4 Penjuru Road, while also being designed to accommodate future expansions of the bus fleet. It was officially opened on 8 August 2002 by Minister for Transport, Mr. Yeo Cheow Tong. SBS Transit owned the leasehold title for the property, with a land tenure of 30 years starting from 1 April 2000.
The facility spans three floors, with the ground floor dedicated to refuelling, washing, and maintenance activities, while the upper floors provide bus parking space.
SBS Transit Tenure
During SBS Transit’s occupancy period from 2002 to 2024, Soon Lee Bus Depot remained the company’s only multi-storey bus depot. The depot also includes administrative offices and the Bus Operations Control Center (BOCC) for SBS Transit’s West District, which oversaw buses from Bukit Batok Depot, Ayer Rajah Bus Park, and Hougang Depot.
The depot is also a route terminus for Bus Services 185, 502 and 502A. Service 185 between Soon Lee Depot and Buona Vista was introduced in December 2006, while Express 502/A was extended from Pioneer Rd North to Soon Lee Depot in February 2009.
Unique Fleet
Soon Lee Bus Depot garaged 12 Volvo B10BLE CNG buses for most of their lifespan, commonly deploying them on Services 66, 105, 143, 157, 183, and 243G/W. These buses were refuelled at commercial CNG stations located at Jurong Island and Toh Tuck. In late February 2017, all the buses were transferred to Bukit Batok Bus Depot, where they remained until their retirement in 2019.
Soon Lee was also formerly home to Volvo B10M Mark IV (PSV Soon Chow) buses from 2004 to 2011. Ten of these buses were transferred from SBS Leisure, where they had previously operated on Sentosa bus routes. While two of the buses were converted into training vehicles for Hougang Depot, the remaining eight were garaged at Soon Lee Depot and deployed on Service 78 until they reached the end of their lifespan.
Another unique bus model associated with Soon Lee was the Volvo Olympian 2-Axle. In the mid-2000s, as non-air-conditioned (NAC) buses were being phased out across Singapore, the last remaining NAC buses—Volvo Olympian 2-Axles—were transferred to Soon Lee Bus Park. These buses were deployed on Jurong Industrial Services until they reached the end of their lifespan in 2011. Some of these buses were granted a two-year lifespan extension and were retired in 2013.
Soon Lee Bus Park also garaged several demonstrator buses, such as the Volvo B7RLE (SBS8030L) between 2007 and 2016, the Sunlong SLK6121UF14H hybrid buses (SBS8000Z & SBS8001X) between 2010 and 2012, and the Volvo B5RLE Hybrid (SBS8002T) during its 2015 trial period. It would also take in the Scania K230UB demonstrator unit SBS8033D.
Sale & Transfer of Soon Lee Bus Depot to LTA
The SBS Transit Annual Report 2022 disclosed that on 13 June 2022, SBS Transit signed an agreement with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to sell and transfer Soon Lee Bus Depot in 2024. The depot will be sold at its carrying value at the time of transfer, following a series of renovations and maintenance works to be completed before the handover in 2024.
This timeline aligns with the expiry of the Negotiated Contract term for the Jurong West Bus Package in August 2024. The transfer of Soon Lee Depot to LTA ownership facilitates the shift from a Negotiated Contract to a Tendered Contract, under which LTA will lease the depot to a bus operator selected through a competitive tender process.
In May 2023, LTA called a tender for the Condition Survey for Soon Lee Bus Depot (Contract BD101).
SBS Transit reported that the carrying value of Soon Lee bus depot’s land and building is $29.7m as of the end of FY2023.
PT218B – Jurong West Bus Package (1st Tendered Term: Sep 2024 to 2029):
The first tendered term for the Jurong West Bus Package was offered on 23 November 2022, as part of a joint tender with the Bukit Merah Bus Package under Contract PT218: Bus Contracting – Bukit Merah and Jurong West Bus Packages.
On 18 August 2023, the Jurong West Bus Package was awarded to SMRT Buses Ltd, and SMRT Buses took over depot operations from SBS Transit on 1 September 2024.
Despite the transfer of the anchor operator role to SMRT Buses, SBS Transit maintained a small presence at Soon Lee as a tenant operator from September 2024 to December 2024. During this interim period, SBS Transit garaged buses for services such as 30, 99, 174, and 198 at Soon Lee. However, SBS Transit ended its tenancy at Soon Lee Bus Depot in December 2024, moving its bus garaging to Bulim Bus Depot instead.
In return, SMRT Buses, which had ended its tenancy at Bulim Bus Depot, began garaging buses from the other bus packages it operates at Soon Lee Bus Depot.
Anchor Operator History
- 8 Aug 2002 – 31 Aug 2024: SBS Transit Ltd
- 1 Sep 2024 – Present: SMRT Buses Ltd
Depot Fleet:
Soon Lee Bus Depot currently houses the following models of buses under SMRT Buses:
Single Deck Buses
Double-Deck Buses
Bus Services:
| Service | Destination | Remarks |
| 185 | Buona Vista | |
| 502 | ↺ Central Boulevard | Express Service |
| 502A | Central Boulevard (Downtown Stn Exit E) | Express Service / Short Trip Service |
Gallery (2017):
Gallery (2014):
External Links & References:
Back to Bus Depots and Bus Parks
Think SMRT Bulim based service will park here too.Soon Lee will be fitted with electric charger too.
If SMRT’s Bulim parking lots and allocated facilities could be used interchangeably with SMRT’s Soon Lee Depot,
Apart from 172, 178, 180, 187 can be maintained at Soon Lee Bus Depot,
240, 241, 242, 243G/W (coincidentally also 4 services) can be maintained at Bulim Depot and use bendy buses.
Almost like role swapped. Which is possible, since anyway, Boon Lay Bus Interchange sawtooth section is designed to accommodate 4 trunk services using bendy buses. Although now we are talking about feeder.
Nonetheless, got the possibility, and if the Boon Lay feeders could use bendy and maintain at Bulim depot, I believe SMRT and LTA are probably running simulations at the moment to see how many bendy buses can be deployed to the 4 feeder services at Boon Lay Bus Interchange, since it is SMRT practice to deploy bendy on feeder routes.
Anyway, this would probably require 180 (the only 1 of 4 bus service currently already with SMRT) to become totally DD and SD, and give up its 4 articulated buses slot to the 4 feeders.
Boon Lay Int has 8 bendy lots. SMRT has 3 spare bendys. If include 180’s 4 bendys, this means can allocate 7 bendys to the 4 feeders….
Anyway, looking at sgwiki (nowadays most SMRT feeders also seldom use bendy already),
And furthermore, I already saw SMRT b9tl doing test drive on a JW feeder route,
And somemore there are indications that SMRT will be running Jurong West bus package as an entirely separate entity (we should actually think about it as new operator entering the market), with SBS plated buses only found in JW services as far as SMRT bus operations are concerned,
Nope. Unlikely Bulim Depot will handle any Jurong West Bus Package services. SMRT operations at Jurong West Bus Package and Soon Lee Bus Depot would be entirely separate from the rest of SMRT’s bus operations.
Sorry for the contradictions, and thanks for the opportunity to have a good think through about it, and enable me to explain why it may not happen.
Hearsay all the Jurong West package will change hands to SMRT on 1st September, with no phased transition. That’s why no announcement of commencement date, as at time of writing.
Maybe it’s because of depot ownership reason. This will set a precedent for future change of operator within same depot in the future.
To think about it, this has happened recently in Taiwan, whereby a MRT line had changed operator. The line was the New Taipei Circular Line. The point is: one single transition date.
1. Before transition: all the vehicles became logo-less.
After transition: gradually paste the new operator logo.
2. Then, just overnight change operator only.
3. The staff uniform, can in batches give to affected staff members, in the lead up to the single transition date.
That’s why until now still no announcement, but SMRT doing test runs can be observed in Jurong West region.
But at least a letter to public say “dear passengers, we are taking over the following bus services on 1st September 2024” will be much appreciated.
Today is 17 August. Still got two full weeks then 1st September. Two weeks notice should be the minimum for any change in bus service, including change of bus operator. Let’s see.
But most probably it would be what I had written.
The only other concern is the LED information panel the formatting. That one, maybe will take a while after transition to all change to SMRT format.
Let’s see how this would turn out. It’s really setting a precedence for same depot change of operator, which has never happened before in Singapore.
Considering due to accessibility reasons, a MRT or bus depot should be located near to the expressway or major trunk road, and if possible, central to all the main bus interchanges that it covers,
Soon Lee Bus Depot will eventually be replaced.
The replacement bus depot will definitely be in Jurong West.
Am really guessing Jalan Tukang area, west of Taman Jurong, where the replacement bus depot could be at.
The replacement for Soon Lee is the future integrated CRL train and bus depot.For now SMRT can operate until 2029 and possibly extend a couple of years before moving into the new depot.Why Tuas?Cause JW package doesn’t intake many svc that goes into CBD or Eastern areas.
Soon Lee Bus Park might be renamed Soon Lee Bus Depot (SLDEP).
No tranche for Jurong West Bus Package as it will be overtaken all at once next year
Well, if they can build a new multistorey bus depot at Sengkang, I’m sure they can build a new multistorey bus depot at Jurong West, once the land lease of Soon Lee Bus Depot is up.
Using the existing Soon Lee Bus Depot was probably to optimize the existing resources.
After all, Soon Lee Bus Depot still has 6 years of useful life after 2024. Unlike the previous bus depots which are much older.
It will also set the precedent for any transfer of operator in the new LTA bus depots in the future.
Actually, I am personally predicting, a depot rotation may happen.
Bulim Bus Package: Bulim Bus Depot -> Tengah Bus Depot, when it is ready in 2027.
Jurong West Bus Package: Soon Lee Bus Depot -> Bulim Bus Depot.
This is because the Bulim Bus Depot was only recently commissioned in 2015 (8 years ago), and it is actually quite near to the Boon Lay Bus Interchange, and it is also quite accessible to the Tuas Bus Terminal and the Joo Koon Bus Interchange. It will still have 18 years of lifespan (assuming it’s 30 years) after 2027. So might as well use it for the Jurong West Bus Package, since building a bus depot requires a very substantial investment.
Furthermore, the Bulim Bus Depot is near to the surrounding HDB estates, so accommodation for the bus drivers won’t be a problem, unlike if the bus depot is located in a remote location like Tuas.
2027 would be around 3 years after 2024. It may even be a mid-term transfer of depot to the Bulim Bus Depot for the Jurong West Bus package, and a new-term transfer of depot to Tengah Bus Depot for the Bulim bus package.
Renaming of the Bulim Bus Depot (to Jurong West Bus Depot) and the Bulim Bus Package (to Tengah Bus Package) may even happen to avoid confusion.
That is, if the above-mentioned depot rotation would indeed happen for the Jurong West Bus Package.
Anyway, this rotation, even if happen, is definitely only one-time. One should not expect it to be a constant game of playing musical chair. LOL.