Nine bids have been received for the Seletar bus package, the last one up for competitive tendering until the remaining contracts held by the incumbents expire over the next two to 10 years. Among them are SMRT, SBS Transit, Tower Transit, Go-Ahead Singapore, as well as Australia’s Busways Group and Singapore’s Woodlands Transport. The winning operator will begin running the 26 services from the first half of 2018. This tender exercise for the package of bus routes plying from Ang Mio Kio, Yio Chu Kang and Yishun closed at noon on Thurs. Compared to the first two tenders which received 10 and 11 bids respectively, the current exercise saw the lowest number of bidders. The winning company will get to run 26 bus routes based out of the new Sungei Seletar Bus Depot, located off Yio Chu Kang Road, which is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of next year. The package will consist of about 420 buses when implemented in the first half of 2018, and will grow to about 500 buses in 2023 in tandem with new developments and a projected growth in ridership.... Continue Reading