Three new bus routes for Tengah, Woodlands as population surges; JRL interim shuttles from mid-2027

Singapore's Land Transport Authority will launch three new bus services for Tengah and Woodlands from Oct 25, as Tengah's population more than doubled to 28,000. Interim shuttle buses broadly following the delayed Jurong Region Line route will begin in the second half of 2027, ahead of the line's mi

SINGAPORE – Three new bus routes serving northern and western Singapore will launch from Oct 25, including two services connecting the fast-growing Tengah estate to Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Gombak, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Sunday (Sep 20).

Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow announced the new services at a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Tengah Community Club, noting that Tengah’s population has more than doubled to 28,000 residents over the past year. “In another two more years, Tengah will have 57,000 residents,” he said.

New services 873 and 874, which connect to Tengah, will begin on Oct 25. Service 873 will link Tengah to Bukit Gombak, Hillview and Hume MRT stations, while service 874 will link Tengah to Choa Chu Kang. A truncated variant, 873M, will also begin operating on the same day. In Woodlands, new service 968 will start at the temporary bus interchange and serve Woodlands North, Woodlands South and Admiralty MRT stations.

Mr Siow, who is also Second Minister for Finance, said service 968 will support the opening of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link, which is set to open in January 2027. He added that many residents had requested the 874 service because they have family or children’s schools in Choa Chu Kang. Currently, commuters need to change buses two or three times to get there; with 874, there will be just one bus.

On the delayed Jurong Region Line (JRL), Mr Siow said an interim shuttle bus service broadly following the JRL route will be introduced from the second half of 2027. “Commuters will begin to enjoy the JRL’s connectivity on the original timeline – first by bus, and later by train when the JRL is up and running,” he said. He previously shared that the JRL’s opening would be pushed back by around six months to mid-2028 because of construction delays and testing.

Mr Siow said transport is a “key priority” for Tengah, noting that there were only four bus services operating there last May. Today, there are 11 bus services. Some services only run during peak hours for now because of limited buses and drivers. “I wanted to prioritise getting more connections first, connect to more places first, instead of putting all the buses into one single service,” he said, adding that if there is demand, services can be expanded to off-peak hours.

LTA also said more trips will be added to city direct service 674, which connects Tengah to the Central Business District, and service 861, which links Sembawang and Yishun. Over in Punggol, service 381 has been extended from Punggol East to Punggol Coast from Sep 13. More details on 674, 861, 968 and the JRL buses will be shared closer to their respective implementation dates.