Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange took over operations from Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange on 12 March 2016, which will undergo addition and alteration works as part of the construction for the new Woodlands Station along the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). The future Woodlands North MRT Station will be an integrated transport hub and consist of offices, restaurants, and shops above the bus interchange. It will be connected underground to the Woodlands North MRT Station.
Inside the Old Interchange[]
Woodlands Regional Interchange had a unique orientation as it is divided into two sides, depending on which direction it will depart. Bus Services between Berths 1 to 8 will depart towards Woodlands Avenue 7 whereas bus services between Berths 9 to 16 will depart towards Woodlands Avenue 3. Although SBS Transit Services 161 and 168 departs towards Woodlands Avenue 7, they are located in Berths 15 and 16 due to space constraints.
History[]
The history of bus termini in Woodlands started in the 1970s, in tandem with the construction of Woodlands New Town and the first Housing & Development Board (HDB) estates in Marsiling. Roadside bus termini were known to have existed at the time included:
- Marsiling Avenue (outside Marsiling Sch). The road has since been expunged; site of present-day HDB Marsiling Grove. Served by Bus Service 208.
- Marsiling Drive (outside Blk 1). Served by Bus Service 180 and 182.
- Rotherham Gate (H.M. Naval Dockyard). Served by Bus Service 160 in the early 1970s which is the present-day Admiralty Road West (near Woodlands Causeway).
A centralised bus terminal was opened sometime around 1976 to serve the new HDB estate. Marsiling Bus Terminal was built off Admiralty Road, next to Block 19 and 20 where neighbourhood shops and the hawker centre were located. This terminal was also referred to as Admiralty Road Terminal and Woodlands Bus Terminal by bus literature at the time.
With the opening of Woodlands Town Centre next to Woodlands Checkpoint, Woodlands Bus Interchange was opened on 29 November 1981 to serve the new regional centre, which contained shops, eateries and a cinema, and was frequented by cross-border workers. The interchange featured 17 berths, and started with five bus services (169, 178, 181, 204, 208).
The bus interchange was planned and built by Singapore Bus Service (SBS), but ownership was taken over by the Government in 1983, and later transferred to the newly-formed Trans-Island Bus Service (TIBS), which gradually took over bus routes in Woodlands in stages between Apr-Oct 1983. Most bus routes were shifted from Marsiling Ter to Woodlands Int, with only a handful remaining at Marsiling, most notably Services 950, 951 and 952, which went to Shenton Way, Jurong and Marina Centre respectively.
When the Government announced plans to extend the North South Line from Yishun to Choa Chu Kang via Woodlands, there were accelerated plans to relocate and develop a new town centre for Woodlands, to be located at Woodlands Square.
Built at the cost of $34 million, the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange was built underneath the elevated Woodlands MRT Station, with station facilities occupying the ground floor. The space maximising design was the first of its kind in Singapore and can accommodate both articulated and double decker buses, being the first for articulated buses. It opened on 4 February 1996, and Woodlands MRT Station opened later on 10 February 1996. Double deckers made their debut appearance in 19 February 1996 as an off-service SBS bus, one of which it is a Leyland Olympian 2-Axle and Mercedes-Benz O305 double deckers.
The reorganization of bus routes in Woodlands that accompanied the opening of Woodlands Regional Int led to the disuse of Marsiling Ter, with bus services being extended to the new interchange or withdrawn. As for Woodlands Int, Bus Service 901 remained at Woodlands Int for several more months until its withdrawal on 14 July 1996. Woodlands Int also continued to be used by Bus Service 900, 902 & 904 (later renumbered Intratown 911, 912 & 913 in December 1996) as a looping point, referred to as Woodlands Checkpoint Terminal from bus literature, until 23 March 2003 when the three Intratown services were made to loop at Woodlands Centre Road instead, skipping Woodlands Checkpoint Ter.
- Buses relocated to Woodlands Interchange on 4 February 1996: 169, 178, 181, 181#, 182, 856, 900, 901, 902, 903, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 951, 952, SS7 and introduction of new bus service 858 and 904.
- Buses withdrawn on 10 March 1996: 182, 950, 951, 952, SS7 and replaced by 187
- It becomes: 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 902, 903, 925, 925#, 926
While Marsiling Bus Terminal is fully demolished, Woodlands Int was used as a carpark and bus park until late 2017, where the entire Woodlands Town Centre is eventually demolished and torn down.
Spitting incident[]
Police have arrested a 47-year-old man who was involved in the "spitting incident" at Woodlands Interchange on 22 October 2013 night. A statement from the Singapore Police Force added that the man will be charged in court tomorrow with committing a public nuisance under Section 290 of the Penal Code, and other offences.
In a video of the incident, which was posted online by a bystander and has gone viral, a man is seen spitting repeatedly in the face of a woman, and hurling verbal abuse at another female commuter. SMRT staff are also seen in the video trying to calm the enraged man down, who is heard asking loudly “where are the police?”
According to the bystander who filmed the incident, which happened around 9.30pm, the man had allegedly tried to cut the queue and was told to go to the back of the line. SMRT said in a post on their Facebook page that the police were alerted to the incident and that its security staff, while waiting for the police to arrive, “made a judgement call to intervene and to guide the aggressor away”.
In response to SMRT’s statement, some Facebook users felt that the security personnel did not do enough to stop the man from threatening the women, and that they should have removed the aggressor from the scene.
The man who was filmed spitting repeatedly at a woman at a bus interchange earlier this week, in a video that went viral online, was charged in court on 25 October 2013 charged in court and remanded for psychiatric evaluation. Juraimi Kamaludin, 47, faces four charges. He is accused of being a public nuisance with his aggressive behaviour at Woodlands Bus Interchange in an argument over alleged queue-cutting at about 9.30pm on Oct 22. He is also accused of spitting in the face of two women — 41-year-old Teoh Lay Peng and 34-year-old Lee Kuan Eng — during the episode. A fourth charge stems from Juraimi’s behaving in a disorderly manner in public in September, at about 8am at a void deck at Bukit Batok Street 21. If convicted of the disorderly behaviour offence, Juraimi could be jailed up to a month and fined S$1,000. For using criminal force by spitting, he’s looking at a maximum of three months’ jail and S$1,500 in fine for each count. The maximum penalty for being a public nuisance by behaving aggressively is a fine of up to S$1,000.
The district judge has ordered him to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation. His case will be mentioned again on Nov 8.
A man convicted of spitting at two women at Woodlands bus interchange last October was jailed for five weeks and fined $800 on Friday. Juraimi Kamaludin, 48, a cleaner, had been found guilty after a three-day trial of being a public nuisance; spitting at Ms Teoh Lay Peng, 41, and forcefully pushing her out of the bus; spitting at secretary Lee Kuan Eng, 34, a total of six times within 10 minutes. In passing sentence, District Judge Lim Keng Yeow said the incident last Oct 22 had come about after Juraimi felt he had been unjustly accused, and he gave that considerable weight. "Even though that is so, your response was clearly excessive. Your actions were shocking. Your conduct was wholly unjustifiable," he said.
Juraimi could have been jailed for up three months and/or fined up to $1,500 for each of the spitting charge. The judge noted Juraimi's previous records were mainly for theft and drug-related offences and that he had been free of trouble since his release in October 2011 until the interchange incident. In a touching exchange, the judge said he hoped Juraimi would never have to go to prison again, at least for the next two-and-a-half to three years. Juraimi promised he would change.
Judge Lim said he believed him, and hoped that after his release, he would have a normal life, work and stay out of trouble. He told Juraimi he was confident that Juraimi would do that. And when Juraimi said it would not be just for the next few years but "forever, Judge Lim said he hoped so. Juraimi said he wants to get married and settle down after this. The judge also told Juraimi to focus on the first three years, and said he looked forward to seeing him in three years, living a "normal, good productive life. Juraimi was so moved that he broke down and cried in court. "I am speechless to hear this. No one has ever said that to me. I am very very happy and grateful, he said. For the incident last October, Juraimi was given the fine for scolding and shouting at the commuters on SMRT 950. For spitting at Ms Teoh once on the face, he was jailed for a day. He was given a total of five weeks for the two counts of spitting at Ms Lee and the act of pushing Ms Teoh out of the front door of the bus, which endangered the personal safety of others.
Redevelopment[]
Due to the construction of the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) underneath Woodlands Regional Interchange, alteration works would be carried out to the existing bus interchange together with the upgrade to the air-conditioned bus interchange, thus focusing to be an Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) in 2019. A temporary interchange is constructed next to Woodlands MRT Station for the relocation of all of the bus services currently serving Woodlands Regional Interchange. Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange (TBI) was launched on 12 March 2016.
On 26 Dec 2017, Contract PT247 – Upgrading of Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange was awarded to CCECC Singapore Pte Ltd at a sum of S$21,567,800.00. Part of the works include converting the bus interchange into an air-conditioned facility. Works are expected to complete towards the end of 2019.
The extensive upgrading work included the following changes:
- Convert the existing bus interchange concourse into an air-conditioned facility, with full-height glass panels and automatic doors at bus alighting and boarding berths
- Southward extension of passenger concourse and driveway to accommodate TEL escalator and lift, protruding into the existing driveway
- Removal of old U-turn lanes at both ends of the interchange to accommodate extended interchange concourse
- Narrowing of bus park driveway to accommodate larger kerb (facilitating wheelchair boarding)
- New row of reverse-parking lots within the bus park
- Reduced number of bus lots within existing parking area (under MRT viaduct) to increase distance between parking lots
- Relocation of NTWU canteen from bus park building to interchange concourse
Post-Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub:
The following facilities will be discontinued -
- NTWU Canteen - Relocated to Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub with more demand
- Priority Assistance buggy service - Discontinued since not much point anyway
- SBS Transit Interchange Office - only service 161 and 168. They are all moved to Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub.
- TransitLink Ticket Office - Relocated to Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub with more demand
- Passenger Information System interactive panels - Inactive, it might be removed
History[]
| From | To | Routes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 February 1996 | 10 March 1996 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 182, 856, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 951, 952, SS7 (18) |
| 10 March 1996 | 12 July 1996 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 925, 925#, 926 (15) |
| 12 July 1996 | 14 July 1996 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 925, 925#, 926, 960 (16) |
| 14 July 1996 | 18 August 1996 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 902, 903, 904, 911, 925, 925#, 926, 960 (15) |
| 18 August 1996 | 8 December 1996 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 911, 925, 925#, 926, 960 (17) |
| 8 December 1996 | 24 November 1997 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960 (15) |
| 24 November 1997 | 31 August 1998 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 856, 858, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 964 (16) |
| 31 August 1998 | 1 November 1998 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 700, 856, 858, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 964 (17) |
| 1 November 1998 | 27 December 1998 | 169, 178, 181, 181#, 187, 700, 856, 858, 900, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 964 (18) |
| 27 December 1998 | 12 December 1999 | 169, 178, 187, 700, 856, 858, 900, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 964 (18) |
| 12 December 1999 | 26 December 1999 | 169, 178, 187, 700, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 964 (19) |
| 26 December 1999 | 14 April 2001 | 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 964 (18) |
| 14 April 2001 | 15 April 2001 | 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 964 (19) |
| 15 April 2001 | 24 June 2001 | 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 964, 969 (20) |
| 24 June 2001 | 2 June 2002 | 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 964, 969 (21) |
| 2 June 2002 | 7 July 2002 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 964, 969 (22) |
| 7 July 2002 | 29 September 2002 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 964, 965, 969 (23) |
| 29 September 2002 | 16 November 2003 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 964, 965, 969 (24) |
| 16 November 2003 | 19 September 2004 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 964, 965, 966, 969 (25) |
| 19 September 2004 | 20 February 2006 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 964, 965, 966, 969 (26) |
| 20 February 2006 | 17 April 2006 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 969 (27) |
| 17 April 2006 | 26 June 2006 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 902, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 969 (28) |
| 26 June 2006 | 30 January 2010 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 969 (29) |
| 30 January 2010 | 18 August 2013 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (30) |
| 18 August 2013 | 14 April 2014 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 904, 911, 912, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (31) |
| 14 April 2014 | 13 January 2015 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 904, 911, 912, 912P, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (32) |
| 13 January 2015 | 1 September 2016 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 903P, 904, 911, 912, 912P, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (33) |
| 1 September 2016 | 13 January 2017 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 903P, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (33) |
| 13 January 2017 | 28 October 2018 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (33) |
| 28 October 2018 | 17 March 2019 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (34) |
| 17 March 2019 | 23 June 2019 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (35) |
| 23 June 2019 | 8 September 2019 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925#, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961#, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (36) |
| 8 September 2019 | 13 June 2021 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925M, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961M, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (36) |
| 13 June 2021 | 30 June 2022 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925M, 926, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961M, 962, 963, 963E, 963R, 964, 965, 966, 969 (36) |
| 30 June 2022 | 17 December 2023 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 900A, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925M, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961M, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 969 (34) |
| 17 December 2023 | 13 January 2025 | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 912M, 913, 913M, 925, 925M, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961M, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 969 (33) |
| 13 January 2025 | Present | 161, 168, 169, 178, 187, 856, 858, 900, 901, 901M, 902, 903, 903M, 904, 911, 912, 913, 913M, 925, 925M, 950, 960, 960e, 961, 961M, 962, 963, 963E, 964, 965, 966, 967, 969 (33) |
Bus Contracting Model[]
Template:See also
Under the new bus contracting model, all the bus services were split into 4 route packages-169, 856, 858, 963, 965, 966 and 969 under Sembawang–Yishun, 161 under Sengkang–Hougang, 168 under Bedok and the rest are under Woodlands Bus Package.
Berths[]
Temporary Interchange[]
From 18 May 2024, Service 170, 170X and 950 are now currently doing overnight parking at Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange. Existing service 170 will continue to function as per normal from Kuan Yin San Temple to Queen Street, and they do overnight parking at Queen Street Bus Terminal.
| Berth | Services | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Alighting Only | ||
| A2 | |||
| B1 | 925/A/M | NSL Free Bridging Bus to Marina South Pier1 | 961/M1 |
| B2 | 950 | ||
| B3 | 965/A/T1 | NSL Free Bridging Bus to Jurong East1 | 9671 |
Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub[]
| Berth | Services | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Alighting berth | ||
| A2 | |||
| B1 | Alighting berth | ||
| 858/A1 | |||
| B2 | 9021 | 169/A/B1 | 969 |
| B3 | 913 (East)/T1 | 964 | |
| B4 | 903/M1 | 900 | |
| B5 | 901/M1 | 9041 | |
| B6 | 9621 | 911 (East)/T1 | |
| B7 | 912 (East)1 | 912A1 | |
| A3 | Alighting berth | ||
| A4 | |||
| B8 | |||
| B9 | 1871 | 963/e1 | |
| B10 | 1611 | 168/A | |
| B11 | 856/A/B1 | 966/A1 | |
| B12 | 912 (West)/B1 | 911 (West)/A/T1 | |
| B13 | 913 (West)/T/M1 | 178/A | |
| B14 | 960 | 960e1 | |
1 For Timothy Mok's case, it is not included.