3 new bus routes for Tengah, Woodlands; interim shuttles for delayed Jurong Region Line to launch from mid-2027

Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said public transport is a “key priority” for Tengah, which has seen its population more than double to 28,000 over the past year.

Public buses queue to pull into a bus stop. (File photo: Facebook/Land Transport Authority) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Abigail Ng 20 Sep 2026 09:17PM (Updated: 20 Sep 2026 09:43PM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: Three new bus routes serving northern and western Singapore will be launched soon, including two services connecting Tengah to Choa Chu Kang and to Bukit Gombak.

This comes as the Tengah population has more than doubled to 28,000 residents over the past year, with more people still moving in every day, said Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on Sunday (Sep 20).

“In another two more years, Tengah will have 57,000 residents,” he said at a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Tengah Community Club, where he gave updates on the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme.

The government’s push to boost connectivity in Tengah, Singapore’s newest Housing and Development Board town, has made headlines in recent years, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong once recalling a resident who described the area as the “Punggol of the West” amid its rapid development.

In his speech, Mr Siow said transport is a “key priority” for the new town, noting that there were only four bus services operating in Tengah last May. Today, there are 11 bus services, he said.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow gives an update on the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme at Tengah Community Club on Sep 20, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman) Some services only run during the peak hours for now because there are limited buses and drivers, he said.

“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, the services can slowly be expanded to off-peak hours.

As for the delayed Jurong Region Line (JRL), Mr Siow said an interim shuttle bus service, which will broadly follow the route of the JRL, 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 because of construction delays and testing, and that the line will open in the middle of 2028.

LTA said in a press release on Sunday that the new bus services 873 and 874, which connect to Tengah, will begin on Oct 25.

The former will link Tengah to Bukit Gombak, Hillview and Hume MRT stations, while the latter will link Tengah to Choa Chu Kang.

A variant of the 873 service with a truncated route, 873M, will also begin operating on Oct 25.

Mr Siow, who is a member of parliament for Chua Chu Kang GRC, said many residents have been asking for a bus service like 874.

“I understand, because many of the residents here have moved from Choa Chu Kang and your parents are still in Choa Chu Kang, family still there, some of your children also go to school in Choa Chu Kang,” he said.

Currently, commuters need to change buses two or three times to get to Choa Chu Kang.

“With 874, there will be just one bus,” he said, adding that it will pass through the Choa Chu Kang town centre and by Concord Primary School, Bukit Panjang Government High, Chua Chu Kang Primary, Sunshine Place and Brickland.

In Woodlands, new service 968 will begin at the temporary bus interchange and bring commuters to Woodlands North, Woodlands South and Admiralty MRT stations.

Mr Siow, who is also Second Minister for Finance, said 968 will support the opening of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link, which is set to open in January 2027.

Apart from the new bus routes serving northern and western Singapore, Mr Siow said more trips will also be added to city direct service 674 and service 861.

Service 674 connects Tengah to the Central Business District, while 861 links Sembawang and Yishun.

“I know these are very popular services that residents here take, and they are a bit crowded in the mornings, so we will add more buses and trips so you will have more frequent and less crowded rides,” said Mr Siow.

Over in Punggol, service 381 has been extended from Punggol East to Punggol Coast from Sep 13, LTA said.

LTA said more details on 674, 861, 968 and the Jurong Region Line buses will be shared closer to their respective implementation dates.