In June 2024, a Facebook video was uploaded by 杨敏媛 (Yang Minyuan), Representative for Central Asia at Zhongtong Bus Holding Co,. Ltd, showcasing two right-hand-drive Zhongtong Electric Double-deck buses adorned in lush green livery. The post’s English description read, “The double decker made by Zhongtong,” while in the video, she explained in Russian:
Двухэтажный городской автобус у нас. Это для Сингапура
which translates to “We have a double-decker city bus. This is for Singapore.”
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Background – Zhongtong Electric City Buses in Singapore
Zhongtong’s entry into the Singapore electric bus scene comes amid the Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s push to rapidly electrify the public bus fleet. Half of all public buses will be electric by 2030, which is about 3,000 buses. In addition, numerous electric bus makers have supplied trial buses to LTA, which are detailed in the Electric Buses in Singapore article (see: Electric Buses supplied to LTA for Trial).
The Zhongtong LCK6126EVG (N12) low-floor electric bus first entered the Singapore market in 2022, with private bus operator ComfortDelGro Bus procuring 35 units in total (5 units with 2 doors; 30 units with 3 doors). The buses were procured for the provision of electric campus shuttle bus services at National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in which ComfortDelGro Bus secured multi-year operating contracts in November 2021 and February 2022 respectively. Some of these buses were later deployed on Sentosa Island’s shuttle bus services as ComfortDelGro Bus was also the incumbent bus operator there.
Later in 2023, Zhongtong delivered one N12 bus (3-door variant) to private bus operator Tong Tar Transport, for which it deployed on its existing contracted service with Resorts World Sentosa, RWS8.
Concurrently, Zhongtong provided one 3-door N12 bus to LTA for trial purposes in 2023. The bus was operated by Go-Ahead Singapore out of Loyang Bus Depot from April 2023 to April 2024.
In late March 2023, LTA called a tender to procure 3-door electric single-deck buses under Contract PT601. Zhongtong was awarded one of the two orders to supply 120 3-door single-deck electric buses in November 2023. Buses procured under this contract is scheduled to be progressively deployed for passenger service from December 2024.
Tong Tar Transport also followed up with a further order of 12 3-doors units of the 3-door N12 bus for its new contract with Mandai Wildlife Reserve to operate the Mandai Khatib Shuttle from 2 January 2024. These buses entered service on 18 June 2024.
The upcoming Zhongtong double-deck electric buses marks a significant expansion of its footprint in providing electric city buses for Singapore, with these units potentially offered to LTA for trial purposes similar to that of its single-deck N12 in the future.
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