SBS Transit

SBS Transit Limited
SBS Transit Berhad
新捷运
எஸ்பிஎஸ் போக்குவரத்து

A now de-registered/retired Volvo B10M (Duple Metsec DM3500) rigid/single-decker bus at Tiong Bahru. One of the DM3500 (SBS2744A) was previously converted into the I Love Children Bus.
Type	Public company
Traded as	SGX: S61
Industry	Public Transport
Founded	1973 (as Singapore Bus Service) 2001 (as SBS Transit)
Headquarters	Singapore
Key people	Lim Jit Poh (Chairman) Kua Hong Pak (Deputy chairman) Gan Juay Kiat (CEO)
Products	Bus and Rail Services in Singapore
Revenue	S$1.02 billion SGD (2015)[1]
Operating income	S$25.2 million SGD (2015)[1]
Net income	S$16.7 million SGD (2015)[1]
Number of employees	9730 (2015)[1]
Parent	ComfortDelGro
Website	SBS Transit

SBS Transit Limited (SGX: S61) is a public transport operator in Singapore. Its major competitor in Singapore's transport system is SMRT Corporation, which also operates bus, rail, taxi and other transport services.

The company (organisation) was formed as a separately listed subsidiary in November 1997 under the name of Singapore Bus Service, although it can trace its history back to the formation of Singapore Bus Service in 1973 with the merger of three bus companies. On 1 November 2001, the company's name was changed to SBS Transit Limited to reflect its status as a bus and rail operator. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.

History

Singapore Bus Service (SBS) was initially formed in 1973 with the merger of three private bus companies. The government-sanctioned merger was undertaken to improve service standards of the bus transport system.

With the shift towards the creation of multi-modal transport companies, Singapore Bus Service changed its name to DelGro Corporation in November 1997. Bus operations were hived-off to a fully owned subsidiary called Singapore Bus Services Limited, which was separately listed on the Singapore Exchange.

In November 2001, Singapore Bus Services Limited was renamed as SBS Transit Limited when the company formally became a multi-modal transport operator with the impending opening of the Sengkang LRT Line.

On 29 March 2003, DelGro Corporation merged with Comfort Group to form ComfortDelGro. SBS Transit remains a subsidiary of the merged company.

In 2003, SBS Transit started operating the North East Line of the Mass Rapid Transit network in addition to its existing bus operations.

On 29 August 2011, SBS Transit was given the operation license for the Downtown Line, which started on 22 December 2013.^[2]

Operations

SBS Transit's primary business is providing public transport services in Singapore. Its more notable operations are the following.

• Bus operations in Singapore, comprising a fleet more than 3,000 buses, serving the entire island.
• Rapid transit operations along the North East Line and the partially opened Downtown Line of the MRT network.
• Light rail operations and manages the 29 stations along the Sengkang and Punggol LRT lines.

Buses

Bus fleet

SBS Transit operates 75% of the scheduled bus market share in Singapore with more than 300 bus services and a total fleet of more than 3,000 buses. It consists of the largest depots, Ang Mo Kio, Bedok North, Bukit Batok Bus Depot, Hougang, Loyang and Soon Lee. Some of the latest additions were also used for Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) since 17 September 2012.^[3]

Three models, all wheelchair accessible and are either Euro IV or Euro V compliant, currently form the majority of SBS Transit's fleet:

• 
  Volvo B9TL (Wright Eclipse Gemini 2) at 1,430 units, registered 2010–present^[4]
• 
  Scania K230UB (Gemilang Coachworks) at 1,100 units, registered 2007 - 2010.^[5]
• 
  Mercedes-Benz Citaro at 1,024 units, registered 2011–present.^[4]

Bus models

SBS Transit operates a mix of single and double decker buses.^[6]

Double decker buses

• Dennis Trident 3 (Duple Metsec DM5000)^[7]
• Scania K310UD (Gemilang Coachworks)^[8]
• Volvo B9TL (PSV / ComfortDelGro Engineering)^[9]
• Volvo B9TL (Wright Eclipse Gemini II)^[10]
• Volvo B9TL (Gemilang Coachworks)^[11]
• Volvo Super Olympian (B10TL) (Volgren CR222LD)^[12]
• Volvo B10TL (PSV / ComfortDelGro Engineering)^[13]
• Volvo Olympian 3-Axle (Walter Alexander Royale)^[14]

Rigid/Single decker buses

• Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro (Evobus)^[15]
• Scania K230UB (Gemilang Coachworks)^[16]
• Volvo B7RLE (Soon Chow)^[17]
• Volvo B10BLE (Volgren CR222L)^[18]
• Volvo B10M Mark IV (Duple Metsec DM3500)^[19]

Bus routes

SBS Transit operates many different types of bus routes and bus services, taking up the majority of the pie of Singapore's duopoly bus system in almost all areas of Singapore, with the notable exception of the North and Northwest areas, where bus services are mainly run by its competitor, SMRT Buses. However, with the current Bus Contracting Model, selected number of existing services run by SBS Transit will be handed over to the newer operators, namely Tower Transit and Go-Ahead. As of 25 January 2016, there are 219 wheelchair-accessible bus services that SBS Transit operates.^[20]

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

SBS Transit is the operator of the North East Line (NEL) since 20 June 2003 and Downtown Line from 22 December 2013.^[21]

The North East Line is the third line in Singapore, and also the world's first fully underground and automated rapid transit line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations. The operating license was given to SBS Transit in order to foster competition with SMRT Trains and to create multi-modal public transport companies, each specialising in their own district. The tender spans from 2003 to 2033.

As the name implies, the North East Line connects central Singapore to the north-eastern part of the island. Transfers to the North South Line are provided at Dhoby Ghaut, East West Line at Outram Park and Circle Line at Serangoon, Dhoby Ghaut and HarbourFront. The rolling stock used are Alstom Metropolis C751A and the newer fleet addition of Alstom Metropolis C751C.

The Downtown Line (DTL) is the fifth line in Singapore. With 34 stations, the 42 km-long line will be the world's longest fully underground and automated rapid transit line when completed in 2017.

The Downtown Line will connect residents staying in the north-western and central-eastern to the new downtown. Transfers to this line from the North East Line will be available at Chinatown and Little India, the North South Line at Newton and Bukit Panjang (Bukit Panjang LRT Line), the East West Line at Bugis, Tampines and Expo, the Circle Line at MacPherson, Bayfront, Promenade and Botanic Gardens. The rolling stock used is Bombardier MOVIA C951.

Fleet details

Contract*	Image	Type	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Trains	Cars	Line(s) served	Built	Introduced
			Design	Service
C751A		electric multiple unit	100	90	25	150	North East Line	2000 – 2003	20 June 2003
C951		electric multiple unit	90	80	92	276	Downtown Line	2012 – 2016	22 December 2013
C751C		electric multiple unit	100	90	18	108	North East Line	2014 – 2016	1 October 2015

The trains are classified as contracts unlike countries which uses class.*

2012 train service breakdown

A major breakdown occurred on 15 March 2012 affected 90,000 commuters due to a power supply problem in the tunnel at Outram Park station.^[22] This caused train services to be disrupted, between 06:30 to 16:35, on NEL between Harbourfront and Dhoby Ghaut stations. Subsequently, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) intends to impose financial penalties amounting to S$400,000 (approximately US$315,000) on SBS Transit for the disruption.^[23]

Light Rail Transit (LRT)

In addition to the North East Line and Downtown Line, SBS Transit also operates two LRT lines. The Sengkang LRT Line and Punggol LRT Line provides a feeder connection in the estate to the two NEL Stations. Both lines have a total of 29 stations, including Sengkang and Punggol stations.

Key operating statistics (2004 till 2013)

Monthly ridership for bus and rail^[24]

Month	2004		2005		2006		2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012		2013
	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail	Bus	Rail
January	64,324,473	6,004,948	64,885,728	6,834,446	62,247,969	7,683,908	67,380,546	8,857,847	73,235,547	10,482,340	69,833,080	11,376,659	72,199,589	12,378,114	2,499,764	479,488	2,502,579	513,232	2,709,052	549,444
February	62,548,766	5,295,081	56,837,060	6,057,296	59,854,200	6,822,060	59,429,412	8,255,520	65,270,126	9,638,353	65,783,396	10,073,000	63,068,208	11,265,212	2,407,956	462,422	2,656,166	516,881	2,579,297	544,014
March	66,351,036	5,746,222	64,890,223	6,732,828	65,965,396	7,590,381	68,315,754	9,157,896	69,948,803	10,286,389	69,451,005	11,084,732	72,137,465	12,729,158	2,525,379	473,044	2,599,039	512,857	2,635,404	547,512
April	63,487,500	5,435,070	62,479,980	6,426,390	62,070,030	7,224,930	64,984,800	8,541,180	70,427,160	10,036,560	68,923,860	10,608,300	71,284,980	12,285,630	2,529,607	473,819	2,588,379	507,860	2,734,052	549,639
May	64,064,538	5,826,574	62,302,994	6,740,609	65,193,992	7,645,809	68,075,039	9,165,708	71,036,035	10,496,414	70,184,899	10,986,555	72,763,758	12,731,359	2,488,470	471,687	2,606,904	515,012	2,694,679	547,732
June	58,792,110	5,786,490	59,278,140	6,729,450	60,320,040	7,486,080	63,261,870	9,135,180	66,607,710	10,403,520	64,626,930	11,301,060	67,716,960	12,407,070	2,427,359	482,303	2,505,754	519,545	2,506,333	543,730
July	66,508,609	6,105,977	64,967,196	7,107,649	66,616,613	7,900,846	69,919,973	9,518,922	74,758,329	11,221,008	72,516,285	11,511,819	76,803,244	13,935,151	2,609,269	502,146	2,670,787	531,032	2,795,741	572,146
August	65,082,175	6,010,931	65,473,116	7,075,905	67,592,493	7,991,924	70,018,739	9,570,413	73,311,156	11,135,107	71,006,802	11,615,111	2,407,351	443,125	2,555,034	489,654	2,643,235	527,838	2,739,573	575,359
September	62,920,620	5,908,380	62,254,350	6,956,040	63,886,170	7,847,130	66,016,800	9,226,680	70,400,310	10,886,250	68,542,950	11,364,840	2,425,155	450,687	2,577,544	497,396	2,607,288	530,928	2,693,354	570,903
October	63,445,158	6,039,513	63,613,023	7,232,610	64,805,469	8,775,790	69,212,119	9,854,032	71,997,252	11,430,258	71,927,657	11,936,550	2,435,090	448,431	2,520,090	501,584	2,610,997	532,144	2,725,582	573,595
November	58,936,800	6,008,850	59,570,430	7,016,160	63,188,790	8,779,170	64,996,140	9,630,330	67,726,470	10,830,150	67,368,480	11,356,920	2,355,519	455,099	2,474,271	495,914	2,551,998	534,455	2,660,331	568,782
December	60,215,888	6,575,844	60,499,569	7,653,001	61,434,405	9,420,497	64,456,068	10,454,285	66,448,221	11,614,181	67,325,707	12,384,903	2,305,976	479,318	2,397,624	514,836	2,410,283	538,196	2,522,263	633,175
Year Total	756,677,673	70,743,880	747,051,809	82,562,384	763,175,567	95,168,525	796,067,260	111,367,993	841,167,119	128,486,341	827,967,548	135,600,449	861,345,334	157,000,000	913,200,000	177,800,000	944,000,000	191,500,000	973,500,000	204,800,000

Notes

• Rail ridership includes North East Line (NEL), Sengkang LRT and Punggol LRT rides.
• The Sengkang LRT and NEL commenced revenue service on 18 January 2003 and 20 June 2003 respectively. The Punggol LRT began service on 29 January 2005.
• Monthly rail ridership exceeded 10 million for the first time in December 2007.

See also

• TVMobile — an outdoor digital television previously installed in SBS Transit buses. (discontinued on 1 January 2010)

References

1. "SBS Transit Annual Report 2015" (PDF). SBS Transit. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
2. "Downtown Line". Land Transport Authority. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
3. "Improvements to more than 50 bus services, better connectivity with five new bus services by end 2012". PublicTransport@SG. 13 September 2012.
4. "SBS Transit To Add 665 More Buses-Almost Entire Fleet Will Be Wheelchair-Accessible By 2017". SBS Transit. 1 July 2014.
5. "Sweden: Scania tallies 460 new bus orders". Automotive World. Factiva. 17 August 2009.
6. "In Pictures: Bus Models". Land Transport Guru. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
7. "Dennis Trident".
8. "Scania K310UD".
9. "Volvo B9TL PSV".
10. "Volvo B9TL Gemini".
11. "Volvo B9TL Gemilang".
12. "Volvo B10TL".
13. "Volvo B10TL".
14. "Volvo Olympian".
15. "Mercedes 0530".
16. "Scania K230UB".
17. "Volvo B7RLE".
18. "Volvo B10BLE".
19. "Volvo B10M".
20. "SBSTransit WAB Declaration 25 Jan 2016" (PDF).
21. "Land Transport Masterplan: Downtown Line Stage 1 to open on Dec 22". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
22. "NEL train service between Dhoby Ghaut and HarbourFront stations disrupted". Channel NewsAsia. 15 March 2012.
23. "SBS Transit fined S$400,000 for March train disruption". Channel NewsAsia. 4 September 2012.
24. "SBS Transit Ridership".

• Ilsa Sharp, (2005), SNP:Editions, The Journey — Singapore's Land Transport Story. ISBN 981-248-101-X

External links