SMRT Buses

SMRT Buses

Alexander Dennis Enviro500 at Bukit Panjang in July 2014
Parent	SMRT Corporation
Founded	31 May 1982 (as TIBS) 10 May 2004 (rebranded after merger)
Headquarters	Singapore
Service type	Bus service
Routes	98
Stations	6 (Interchanges) 3 (Terminals) 3 (Depots)
Fleet	1190 buses (2012)
Daily ridership	931,800 (FY2011)
Chief executive	Desmond Kuek (President & CEO)
Website	SMRT Buses

A mix of resprayed buses in red livery with some in older, yellow TIBS livery parked at Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange.

Interior of a Mercedes-Benz O405G with Hispano Habit bodywork.

SMRT Buses [originally Trans Island Bus Services (TIBS)] is a public bus transport operator in Singapore. Singapore has a duopoly transport system in which SMRT's only competitor is SBS Transit, which also operates bus services in Singapore. The company was incorporated as TIBS on 31 May 1982, in a heavily regulated market, to be a competitor to Singapore Bus Service. In accordance with restructuring at parent company SMRT Corporation, TIBS was renamed "SMRT Buses" on 10 May 2004.

History

In 1982, the company ran with a fleet of 37 buses and two services, Service 160 (later renumbered Service 980) and Service 167. Later, more services were handed over to them by the government along with the tender to operate services in the northern region, mainly Yishun and the developing Woodlands.

In 1995, as part of the government's plan to make the local bus system more competitive, 16 SBS services were handed over to TIBS Holdings (TIBS) along with the tender to operate bus services in the north-east corridor, mainly the developing towns Sengkang and Punggol as well as Bukit Panjang.

In 1996, TIBS began operations at the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange, Singapore's first underground bus interchange. It was also the first bus interchange designed to accommodate articulated buses. TIBS used articulated buses, some of which were designed by world-renowned designer, Pininfarina and was known as the Habit articulated buses, on a large scale in its fleet, in contrast to the double-deckers used by Singapore Bus Service (SBS).

Things changed in 1999, when SBS Transit won the tender to operate the North East Line in the north-east corridor. In order to allow better coordination and synergy between rail and buses, SBS Transit was allowed to take back control of bus services in the northeast. In return, TIBS and SMRT Buses agreed to merge, and TIBS was to operate bus services in the north-west corridor towns of Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Batok.

The handover was done in stages. Eight TIBS services in the northeastern corridor were handed over to SBS Transit in 1999. In 2004, the merger was completed, and TIBS adopted the name SMRT Buses to reflect their merger with SMRT.

On 26 November 2012, 170 bus drivers (all of whom are foreign nationals from China), refused to leave their living quarters for work. This reduced bus services to 90% of normal levels. The Ministry of Manpower considered it an illegal strike since the group failed to give a 14 days notice prior to disrupting an essential public service, as is required by the local laws. As a result, 5 of the strikers were jailed for instigating the strike, and another 29 were deported.

On 23 April 2013, the Land Transport Authority announced that a new bus depot will be built by the authority itself. It will be located off Jurong West Avenue 2. It will be the first depot that LTA is developing and funding, as part of the review of the enhanced structural assistance that Government is providing the bus industry announced in Committee of Supply (COS) 2012. The depot is intended for SMRT Buses Ltd, to accommodate the additional buses that it is bringing in over the next few years. The operator’s existing bus depots and bus park are reaching full capacity, and the new facility is necessary to support the higher number of buses as the overall bus capacity is progressively increased under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP).

Buses

SMRT Buses owns more than 1,200 buses and operates more than 100 bus services in Singapore. It has depots at Ang Mo Kio, Bulim, Kranji and Woodlands.

In 2008, SMRT Buses initiated a fleet replacement to replace the retiring Nissan Diesel U31RCN buses with 134 Mercedes-Benz OC500LE wheelchair-accessible buses. All of the buses are equipped with the new Passenger-In-Bus announcement systems.

In 2009, SMRT Buses was handed over a Mercedes-Benz Citaro demonstrator bus, registered as SMB136C. SMRT Buses then placed a purchase of 50 new Mercedes-Benz Citaro production batch buses. All of them entered revenue service as of 25 November 2011.

In 2010, SMRT Buses received a MAN NL323F (A22) demonstrator bus, registered as SMB138Y. It entered revenue service on 23 December 2010.

In July 2011, SMRT Buses placed an order of 200 MAN NL323F buses from ST Kinetics after a successful trial of the demonstrator. The buses began revenue service in October 2011.

In 2013, SMRT Buses received MAN NG363F (A24) demonstrator bus from ST Kinetics as Singapore’s first Wheelchair-Accessible Articulated Bus, registered as SMB388S on 2 April 2013 and entered revenue service on 18 April 2013.

In April 2013, SMRT Buses made another follow-up order to MAN Truck & Bus for 202 MAN NL323F buses, making the total number of 402 buses.

Wheelchair-accessible buses – MAN NL323F buses are used for Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) since 17 September 2012.

In April 2014, SMRT Buses announced the delivery of 573 buses consisting of 332 MAN NL323F buses, 40 MAN NG363F buses (it is meant for feeder services and Ang Mo Kio Depot only), and for the first time, a total of 201 Alexander Dennis Enviro500 buses. It is part of the fleet renewal and the largest order to date.

In September 2014, SMRT Buses received MAN A95 (ND363F) demonstrator double-decker bus for evaluation purposes, registered as SMB5888H on 1 October 2014 and entered revenue service on 5 November 2014.

Current bus fleet

Model	Image	Bodywork manufacturer	Year of manufacture	Units introduced	Batch (Euro tier(s))	Registration number(s)	Notes
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC		Alexander Dennis	2014	201	N/A (Euro V)	SMB5001A & SMB5002Y.	Demonstrators. Both currently used as a training bus.
						SMB5003U — SMB5032K	Registration and deliveries are ongoing.
					BSEP (Euro V)	SMB3501L — SMB3571J.	SMB3501L — SMB3571J are used for Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) since 17 September 2012. Registration and deliveries are ongoing.
DAF SB220		Walter Alexander Sentanta	1995	45	N/A (Euro I)	TIB675K — TIB724C.	Partially installed with LAWO SICMA or Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO Luminator Europa dot-matrix EDS. TIB700X uses a Mercedes-Benz O405 front after an accident in 2002. Deregistering.
MAN A95		MAN Lion's City DD (Gemilang Coachworks)	2013	1	N/A(Euro V)	SMB5888H.	Demonstrator unit.
MAN NG363F		MAN Lion's City GL (Gemilang Coachworks)	2011	1	N/A (Euro V)	SMB388S.	Demonstrator unit.
					2014	40	N/A	Not Determinted	Meant for Feeders Only. To be start delivering in 2015
MAN NL323F		MAN Lion's City Hybrid (Gemilang Coachworks)	2011 & 2012	734	1 (Euro V)	SMB189A — SMB354P.
			2012 & 2013		2 (Euro V)	SMB1301K — SMB1420A.
			2014		3 (Euro V)	SMB1421Y — SMB1549M.	Registration and deliveries are ongoing.
			2011 & 2012		BSEP Batch 1 (Euro V)	SMB3001M — SMB3034T.	SMB3001M — SMB3034T are used for Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) since 17 September 2012.
			2012 & 2013		BSEP Batch 2 (Euro V)	SMB3035R — SMB3116R.	SMB3035R — SMB3116R are used for Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) since 17 September 2012.
Mercedes-Benz O405		Hispano Carrocera OAC	1993, 1994 & 1995	323	N/A (Euro I)	TIB425R — TIB561E. TIB572Z — TIB634D.	Partially installed with LAWO BENEFIT or Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO EDS. TIB488J installed with roof-mounted Konvekta air-conditioning unit. TIB596E installed with Transit Media EDS. TIB597C used to have Coolair EDS, but has been replaced by Mobitec MobiLED EDS. TIB612S installed with 2 additional foldable seats. Refurbishment for lifespan extension of 2 years have completed. Deregistering. Some selected buses are given lifespan extension till the end of 19 years lifespan.
		Hispano Carrocera CAC	1995			TIB725A — TIB797S.	Partially installed with LAWO-BENEFIT or Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original Hanover EDS. Installed with Hispacold or Denso air-conditioning units. TIB727U is the first refurbished CAC bus which converted to non-sliding windows. TIB741C and TIB779U has underfloor HispaCold air-conditioning unit. TIB783G installed with LAWO Luminator Europa ALUMA EDS. TIB792E originally installed with non-sliding windows. All buses went for refurbishment for lifespan extension of 2 years.
		Hispano Carrocera OAC	1995			TIB798P — TIB832Z.	Partially installed with LAWO BENEFIT or Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO EDS. All buses went for refurbishment for lifespan extension of 2 years.
		Volgren	1999			TIB958U — TIB972C.	Installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO EDS. TIB958U installed with LAWO BENEFIT EDS. De-registration start on December 2016.
Mercedes-Benz O405G		Hispano Carrocera Mark I	1997	56	N/A (Euro I)	TIB849B — TIB904A.	Nicknamed as "Box" articulated bus. Installed with Mobitec MobiLED or Gorba imotion EDS that replaced the original Hanover EDS. TIB890E featured with headrest seats. All buses went for refurbishment. De-registering by November 2015.
		Hispano Carrocera Mark II	1999	29	N/A (Euro I)	TIB973A — TIB1001Z.	Nicknamed as "Smiley" articulated bus. Installed with Mobitec MobiLED or LAWO BENEFIT EDS that replaced the original Transit Media EDS. TIB984T and TIB986M have no "Smiley" front markings. TIB994P installed with LAWO-BENEFIT EDS. All buses went for refurbishment. De-registering by 2017.
		Hispano Carrocera Habit	1999 & 2000	208	1 (Mark I) (Euro II)	TIB1019Z — TIB1147L.	Installed with Mobitec MobiLED or Hanover EDS that replaced both the original LAWO Luminator Europa ALUMA and Transit Media EDS. TIB1034D installed with Hanover LED EDS. TIB1105H was rebuilt with a new engine and a new interior, due to a fire. Subsequently, it is installed with LAWO BENEFIT EDS as well as Konvekta overhead air-conditioning unit. This concluded as the first Mercedes-Benz O405G Habit-bodied articulated bus to be refurbished. TIB1132D & TIB1133B are installed with Gorba imotion EDS. Refurbishment going. De-registering by 2017.
			2000		1 (Mark II) (Euro II)	TIB1148J — TIB1177A.	Installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced both the original LAWO Luminator Europa ALUMA and Transit Media EDS. Refurbishment going. De-registering by 2018.
			2000 & 2002		2 (Euro II)	TIB1198P — TIB1247G.	Installed with Mobitec MobiLED or Gorba imotion EDS that replaced both the original LAWO Luminator Europa ALUMA and Transit Media EDS. TIB1242U is installed with Gorba imotion EDS. Refurbishment ongoing. De-registering by 2021.
		Volgren	1999	21	N/A (Euro II)	TIB1024H.	Demonstrator unit. Installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO Luminator Europa Aluma EDS. Bus is refurbished. De-registering by 2017.
			2000			TIB1178Y — TIB1197S.	Installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original Transit Media EDS. Refurbishment ongoing. De-registering by 2019.
Mercedes-Benz OC500LE		Gemilang Coachworks	2006	134	N/A (Euro V)	SMB1H.	Demonstrator unit. Currently used as a training bus from Kranji Bus Depot (KJDEP).
			2008		1 (Euro V)	SMB2E — SMB67T.	Buses were advertised as the first Euro V low-floor buses in Southeast Asia.
			2009		2 (Euro V)	SMB68R — SMB134H.	Buses were advertised as the first Euro V low-floor buses in Southeast Asia. SMB91Y installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced original LAWO BENEFIT EDS, which destroyed in an accident.
Mercedes-Benz Citaro		EvoBus	2009	51	N/A (Euro V)	SMB136C.	Demonstrator unit. The only wheelchair accessible bus in Singapore with exit doors that swing inward.
			2011		1 (Euro V)	SMB139U — SMB148T.
					2 (Euro V)	SMB149R — SMB188C.	Installed with third brake lights.

Former and decommissioned buses

Model	Image	Bodywork manufacturer	Year of manufacture	Units introduced	Registration number(s)	Notes
Dennis Lance 245	File:TIB937E on 804.jpg	Duple Metsec (UMW-Dennis Specialist Vehicles)	1998	44	TIB906U — TIB946D & TIB1257C.	Scrapped.
		Duple Metsec (Dennis Specialist Vehicles)	2000	15	TIB1002X — TIB1016G.	TIB1010Y was installed with LAWO BENEFIT EDS. Scrapped.
		Volgren	2000	2	TIB1017D & TIB1018B.	Scrapped.
Hino HS3KRK		Volgren	1998	12	TIB905Y.	Demonstrator unit. Scrapped.
			1999		TIB947B — TIB957Y.	TIB952K was installed with Mobitec MobiLED EDS that replaced the original LAWO EDS. Scrapped.
MAN NL323F		MCV Evolution	2009	1	SMB138Y.	Demonstrator unit. The first bus in Singapore to have rear sliding plug doors. Scrapped.
Mercedes-Benz O405G		Hispano Carrocera Mark I	1996	1	TIB838H	Nicknamed as "Box" articulated bus. Demonstrator unit. Scrapped.
Nissan Diesel U31RCN		Fuji Heavy Industries	1992 & 1993	50	CSS178K — CSS207K, TIB362M — TIB377X, TIB1248D — TIB1256E except for CSS199A — CSS201B and CSS206M.	Scrapped.
Scania L113CRL		ELBO	1995	15	TIB833X — TIB837K. TIB839E — TIB848D.	Scrapped.
		Walter Alexander Strider	1995	50	TIB562C — TIB571B. TIB635B — TIB674M.	Scrapped by 2014.
Yutong ZK6126HGC		Yutong Integral Body	2009	1	SMB135E.	Singapore's first Chinese-made city bus. SMRT rejected the bus after the 1 year trial. Registered as PC194T and later re-registered as PH8811S with Bedok Transport.
Zhongtong LCK6121GHEV		ZhongTong Integral Body	2010	1	SMB137A.	Demonstrator unit. Diesel-electric hybrid bus. First hybrid bus operated by SMRT Buses. The six-month trial for this bus has ended and subsequently sold to a private company, Travel GSH, and re-registered PC2086J. In 2014, it re-entered service under the Peak Period Short Services scheme, still operated by Travel GSH.

Bus routes

See also: List of bus routes in Singapore

SMRT Buses operates many different types of bus routes and bus services, taking up the smaller part of the pie of Singapore's duopoly bus system in almost all areas of Singapore especially the north and northwest areas.

External links

• SMRT Bus Guide