LTA awards contract to UK operator to run bus services in Jurong

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced in a statement on Friday that it has awarded the contract for Bulim Bus Depot to UK bus operator Tower Transit Group Limited.

Tower Transit's submission emerged tops out of a total of 11 submissions during the tender period from Oct 3 last year to Jan 19 this year.

The London-based bus operator will operate the new depot and 26 bus services from the Jurong East, Bukit Batok and Clementi bus interchanges.

It will receive an estimated fee of $556 million over the five-year contract period.

According to LTA, commuters can expect bus services to have scheduled headways of no more than 15 minutes for both directions during the morning and evening peak periods, while feeder services will run at intervals of six to eight minutes.

LTA also said that the 26 bus services will be implemented in three phases starting from the second quarter of 2016, and the Bulim bus depot will be handed over to Tower Transit in the second half of 2015.

Mr Chew Men Leong, LTA's Chief Executive, said: "The award of the first bus package is a major milestone and marks a very exciting time for the Singapore bus industry."

He added: "The restructuring of the public bus industry and the injection of more competition will bring about even higher bus service levels for commuters."

The Government introduced a new contracting model for the public bus industry in May last year, which allows public bus services to be made more responsive to changes in ridership and commuter needs.

minlee@sph.com.sg