Marina Centre Bus Terminal

Marina Centre Bus Terminal is a bus terminal along Raffles Boulevard and underneath the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. It serves as a starting and terminating point for bus services serving the Marina Centre region and the City, with no boarding and alighting allowed at the terminal. Currently split into two portions and co-operated by both SBS Transit and SMRT Buses, night bus routes make up the majority of the route count at the terminal.

The existing terminal will be relocated to a new facility underneath Benjamin Sheares Bridge in the near future, capable of housing all bus services under one roof.

Details

The Terminal:

Marina Centre Bus Terminal is a bus terminal located in the City area with no commuter facilities. There are two parts to the terminal, namely a roadside terminal occupying the rightmost lane of Raffles Boulevard (between Temasek Avenue and Republic Boulevard), and a newer extension built on the left side of Raffles Boulevard with a dedicated bus and coach park. Both facilities, opposite each other, are collectively referred to as Marina Centre Bus Terminal.

Currently, SMRT occupies the roadside lots, and SBS Transit occupies the new extension, with both operators operating out of separate terminal kiosks and toilets. Tower Transit, which does not have any facilities at the terminal, parks at the new extension and use SBS Transit’s facilities. Combined, there are 25 bus parking lots at the terminal.

No boarding and alighting activities are allowed at this terminal. The last stop for terminating buses is 02089 Pan Pacific Hotel and the first stop is 02101 Aft S’pore Flyer located outside the Singapore Flyer.

Overnight bus routes contribute to the bulk of the bus route count at this terminal; many of them start their rounds from Marina Centre before heading to River Valley, Orchard and respective housing estates.

Historical Background

Marina Centre Bus Terminal sits on land that was reclaimed in the 1970s. Construction on the reclaimed land only started in the 1980s, and following the construction of Marina Square and other developments, Marina Centre Bus Terminal was opened on 30 November 1986, taking over a temporary roadside terminal along Raffles Avenue in use since 24 November 1985 when Service 189 was extended to the Marina Centre area.

The roadside Marina Centre Bus Terminal previously occupied the leftmost and rightmost lane of the unidirectional Raffles Boulevard between Temasek Avenue and Republic Boulevard, with SMRT bus lots on the left, and SBS Transit lots on the right. As terminal facilities were only located on the right of the road, SMRT drivers were faced with the added trouble of crossing the road to reach the terminal kiosk. Both SBS Transit and SMRT buses had operator kiosks at Marina Centre Terminal beside each other.

In June 2015, the Marina Centre Terminal expansion opened, along with a public coach park, both located north of Raffles Boulevard (opposite the bus terminal operator offices). The new bus park, located directly opposite the existing terminal offices, had a total of 17 parking lots. As a result, roadside parking on the leftmost lane of Raffles Boulevard was abolished. SBS Transit, which moved all its operations to the new extension, built a container office with a portable toilet at the expanded bus park. SMRT took over the roadside lots along the rightmost lane of Raffles Boulevard comprising a total of 8 parking lots, which it continues to operate from.

Future Terminal:

On 10 November 2017, LTA revealed future changes to Marina Centre Bus Terminal with the release of Contract PT193 (Proposed Design and Construction of Bus Terminal and Associated Works at Marina Centre), which would involve relocating the current roadside parking to a permanent facility capable of housing all bus services under one roof. The contract was awarded to Tat Hin Builders Pte Ltd for SGD $5,750,000.00 on 7 Aug 2018.

The facility is situated underneath Benjamin Sheares Bridge, in between Raffles Boulevard and Raffles Avenue. With 24 bus parking lots, the new facility has sufficient room to consolidate all bus services under one roof. The terminal building contains offices, staff lounges, toilets, and other ancillary rooms.

The vehicle ingress is located at the south side, facing the Bayfront Bridge. The egress is located at the north side, facing the former Marina Centre Terminal.

The new terminal is expected to be operational by end-February 2021, according to a Facebook post by Melvin Yong, Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU).

Periods of Closure:

Due to the terminal’s proximity to The Float @ Marina Bay and Marina Bay, major events with road closures happen a few times every year and result in terminal closure. Most services will layover at 02089 Pan Pacific Hotel and loop via Temasek Avenue, calling at 02171 Opp The Ritz-Carlton. In the event of large-scale diversions such as Formula 1, refer to bus operators’ press releases for more information.

Bus Services:

Gallery:

Current Facilities (2017)

For more pictures, refer to the Marina Centre Bus Terminal: Gallery

External Links & References:

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