| Premium bus services were approved in the 1996 Land Transport White Paper. Such services charge higher fares for a more direct journey with guaranteed seats. Under the regulations, these services were required to operate for at least 3 hours each day, five days per week, and at headway of no more than 15 minutes.
Bus-Plus (joint venture between SMRT and Tibs), Citylink Direct (part of SBS Leisure) and Executive Express were set up to operate these services. However, with the requirement of continuous operation and low ridership, many of these services were not viable and had to be withdrawn. Out of the pioneer batch of premium bus services, only Bus-Plus services 541 and 547 (formerly services 1 and 7 respectively) remain operational today. As part of the move to make public transport a more attractive option, the premium bus services scheme was revised on 1 February 2007. To encourage the introduction of premium bus services, the requirement of continuous operation was removed. This sprouted the introduction of around 70 such services since then, of which most only operate a single trip in the morning peak. Complete route details of the premium bus services can be viewed at the Land Transport Authority website: http://www.lta.gov.sg/public_transport/pt_premium.htm Key dates (SBS Transit and SMRT Buses): 16 Jul 07: SBS Transit introduced first batch of Premium services - 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 542, 543, 544 and 545 30 Jul 07: SMRT Buses introduced Premium services 530 and 531 15 Dec 07: SBS Transit introduced City Shopper services - 551, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580 and 581 25 Feb 08: SBS Transit introduced second batch of Premium services - 548, 549, 550, 555, 556, 557 and 569 4 Apr 08: SMRT Buses introduced Premium service 546 21 Apr 08: SBS Transit introduced third batch of Premium services - 552, 553, 554, 558, 559 and 585 23 Jun 08: SMRT introduced evening return trips for Premium 530 and revised fares to $4 30 Jun 08: SBS Transit introduced fourth batch of Premium services - 560, 561, 563, 564, 565, 566 30 Jun 08: SMRT Buses introduced Premium services 587 and 588 21 Jul 08: SBS Transit withdrawn Premium services 537 and 540, and City Shopper services 551, 575, 577 and 580 due to low demand; while fares for the first batch of premium services were revised to $3.30 or $3.60 8 Sep 08: SMRT Buses introduced Premium services 586, 589, 590, 597, 598 and 599 28 Oct 08: SBS Transit suspended City Shopper 576 and shortened operating hours for the remaining City Shopper services 578, 579 and 591 9 Feb 09: SMRT Buses to withdraw Premium service 586 due to low demand Last updated: 28 Jan 09 |
Singapore School Transport Association (SSTA) / Premium 521 / PA2298A / Mitsubishi RM118N 2008-01-18 08:37:00 |
ComfortDelgro / Premium 522 / PH2403B 2008-07-31 08:36:00 |
ComfortDelgro / Premium 528 / PA1013L / Toyota Coaster 2008-01-11 08:38:00 |
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SMRT Buses / Premium 530 / SMB58U / Mercedes Benz OC500LE, Gemilang body 2009-01-21 08:51:00 |
SMRT Buses / Premium 531 / TIB1081S / Mercedes Benz O405G, Hispano Habit body 2008-01-22 08:32:00 |
SBS Transit / SBS9670H / Volvo Olympian 3-axle (batch 3), Alexander Royale body 2007-08-07 08:41:00 |
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SBS Transit / Premium 535 / SBS1971S / Volvo B10M MK 4, Alexander Strider body 2007-08-07 08:52:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 538 / SBS9805L / Volvo B10TL, Volgren CR222LD body 2007-08-07 08:46:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 540 (withdrawn) / SBS2693M / Volvo B10M Mk 4, Duple Metsec DM3500 body 2008-05-09 08:45:00 |
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Bus-Plus / Premium 541 / PA1850L / Mitsubishi Rosa 2008-01-11 08:49:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 542 / SBS9155D / Leyland Olympian 3-axle, Alexander Royale body 2007-08-07 08:58:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 543 / SBS7465Y / Volvo B9TL, Comfort Delgro body 2007-08-07 09:06:00 |
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SMRT Buses / Premium 546 / TIB944J / Dennis Lance (Malaysian), Duple Metsec body 2008-12-03 08:42:00 |
Bus-Plus / Premium 547 / PH2185E / Toyota Coaster 2008-01-11 08:38:00 |
SBS Transit / City Shopper 551 (withdrawn) SBS2677K / Volvo B10M MK 4, Alexander Strider body 2007-12-28 16:42:00 |
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SBS Transit / Premium 554 / SBS9438M / Volvo Olympian 3-axle (batch 2), Alexander Royale body 2008-05-09 08:41:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 555 / SBS2771X / Volvo B10M Mk 4, Duple Metsec DM3500 body 2008-08-05 08:49:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 558 / SBS2785G / Volvo B10M MK 4, Duple Metsec DM3500 body 2008-05-09 08:49:00 |
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SBS Transit / Premium 564 / SBS320C / Mercedes Benz O405, Duple Metsec body 2008-08-05 08:32:00 |
Premier Rent A Car / Premium 567 / PA7491A / Toyota Coaster 2009-01-08 09:04:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 569 / SBS962A / Volvo B10M Mk 4, Duple Metsec body 2008-07-03 08:48:00 |
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SSTA / Express 571 / PA3456C / Nissan SM217L 2009-01-23 09:24:00 |
SSTA / Express 572 / PA4357A / Mitsubishi RM118N 2008-01-18 08:34:00 |
SSTA / Express 572 / PA8608A / Mitsubishi RM118N 2008-01-18 08:53:00 |
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Plus One / Premium 574 / PH8998R / Nissan CM87HHSA 2008-05-12 09:06:00 |
SBS Transit / City Shopper 575 (withdrawn) / SBS2738T / Volvo B10M MK 4, Duple Metsec DM3500 body 2007-12-31 11:51:00 |
SBS Transit / City Shopper 578A / SBS2636D / Volvo B10M Mk 4, Alexander Strider body 2009-01-24 11:50:00 |
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SBS Transit / City Shopper 579 / SBS773D / Volvo B10M Mk 3, Duple Metsec body 2007-12-28 16:35:00 |
SBS Transit / City Shopper 580 (withdrawn) / SBS511T / Mercedes Benz O405, Duple Metsec body (original air-con) 2007-12-31 11:27:00 |
SBS Transit / Premium 585 / SBS9262G / Volvo Olympian 3-axle (batch 1), Alexander Royale body 2008-05-09 08:58:00 |
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SMRT Buses / Premium 586 / PA7832A / Mercedes Benz Sprinter 2009-01-28 07:47:00 |
SMRT Buses / Premium 590 / TIB809S / Mercedes Benz O405, Hispano body (original air-con) 2009-01-05 08:40:00 |
SMRT Buses / Premium 598 / PA8015K / Mercedes Benz Sprinter 2009-01-21 08:50:00 |
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SMRT Buses / Premium 599 / TIB914X / Dennis Lance (Malaysian), Duple Metsec body 2009-01-08 08:16:00 |
