Singapore Buses 2017 - 1 Western Area
A great deal has
changed to the bus scene since the last visit to Singapore by the independent
transport videos cameras in 2002.
Back then the main operator was SBS Transit with Trans Island Bus
Services (TIBS) being the smaller operator which in 2001 merged with the SMRT
Corporation, the operator of Singapore’s rapid transit railway system. SBS (Singapore Bus Services) was renamed
DelGro Corporation in 1997 and then ComfortDelGro in 2003, but the buses
retained the SBS fleet name. In 2001 the
buses were branded SBS Transit and this introduced a red, purple and white
livery. Moving forward to 2012 the Bus
Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) was introduced which put into action many
changes. The Land Transport Authority
(LTA) had taken responsibility for all surface transport in 2009 and in 2014 it
moved towards a Bus Contracting Model (BCM).
This means that the state owns all the bus infrastructure, depots,
interchanges and the vehicles with the bus operators providing the
services. The bus network is being
divided into packages, each covering several routes. The routes, at the time of filming in
November 2017 were operated by SBS, SMRT, Australian owned Tower Transit (Tower
Transit Singapore) and British owned Go-Ahead (Go-Ahead Singapore). A new livery of all over lush green has been
introduced to all vehicles regardless of operator, but the vehicles carry the
fleet name of the respective operator. Single-deckers operated include the Scania
SK230UB with Gemilang bodywork and Volvo B10Bs with Volgren bodies. New
arrivals include many Mercedes-Benz Citaros.
SMRT also operates some bendy-buses.
Double-deckers include Volvo B10TL Super Olympians and Wright
Gemini-bodied Volvo B9TLs. SMRT operate
some ADL Enviro500s. New are
Gemilang-bodied MAN A95s, which were just being delivered, as you will see on
this programme. We have divided this
visit into two sections, this, the first covering the western side of Singapore
island, the second the eastern side.
We
begin our filming for this programme with scenes shot in central Singapore,
mostly on Bras Basah Road, Orchard Road and at Dhoby Ghaut. We visit Buona Vista on our way to the busy
interchange at Clementi. We then take a
ride on SBS3668E, a Volvo B9TL on route 185, a SBS service to Jurong East. This is another very busy bus
interchange. Our next location is Boon
Lay where we board SBS8447T, a single-deck Scania K230UB for a ride to Tuas a
brand new bus station recently opened.
We then travel on SG5580Y a new Volvo B9TL on a ‘Free Bridging’ service
(rail replacement) operated by SMRT to Boon Lay. This was due to an incident on the MRT in
that area. Choa Chu Kang interchange is
where mostly SMRT buses can be seen operating, some still in their interesting
silver and orange livery as well as a number of ADL Enviro500
double-deckers. We then make a visit to
Toa Payoh before returning to central Singapore for some night time filming
along Orchard Road and Havelock Road. We
hope to see you in part two of our Singapore visit where we explore the eastern
area of this beautiful tropical paradise!
