On 1 September 2024, SBS Transit officially handed over operations at Soon Lee Bus Depot to SMRT Buses, closing a chapter in Singapore’s public transport history.
Since its opening in 2002, the depot, also known as Soon Lee Bus Park, served as Singapore’s first multi-storey bus park. It provided essential maintenance, refuelling, and garaging facilities for SBS Transit buses in the Jurong West region.
The handover to SMRT Buses marks a new phase for the depot, as it continues to support Singapore’s bus network under new management.
Brief History
Soon Lee Depot was constructed by SBS Transit for $57 million, replacing the former Jurong Depot at 4 Penjuru Road, while also being designed to accommodate future expansions of the bus fleet. It was officially opened on 8 August 2002.
The facility spans three floors, with the ground floor dedicated to refuelling, washing, and maintenance activities, while the upper floors provide bus parking space. The depot also includes administrative offices and the Bus Operations Control Center (BOCC) for SBS Transit’s West District, which oversaw buses from Bukit Batok Depot, Ayer Rajah Bus Park, and Hougang Depot.
The depot is also a route terminus for Bus Services 185, 502 and 502A, a legacy of the SBS Transit era route planning that included bus depots as terminating points for bus routes.
Service 185, running between Soon Lee Depot and Buona Vista, was introduced in December 2006, while Express Services 502 and 502A were extended from Pioneer Road North to Soon Lee Depot in February 2009.
Sale & Transfer to LTA
In June 2022, SBS Transit signed an agreement with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to sell and transfer Soon Lee Bus Depot in 2024. This move aligns with the Bus Contracting Model, under which LTA owns all operating assets, including bus depots.
This transaction marked the first time an existing operator-owned bus depot was sold to LTA as part of the BCM rollout. Previously, route packages were based out of newly constructed depots built by LTA.
On 18 August 2023, LTA announced that SMRT Buses had been awarded the Jurong West Bus Package, and would therefore assume operations of the depot in September 2024.
Despite the transfer of the anchor operator, SBS Transit maintains a small presence at Soon Lee as a tenant operator. Bus services such as 30, 99, 174, and 198 continue to be housed at Soon Lee.
Unique Fleet
Soon Lee Bus Depot garaged 12 Volvo B10BLE CNG buses for most of their lifespan, commonly deploying them on Services 66, 105, 143, 157, 183, and 243G/W. These buses were refuelled at commercial CNG stations located at Jurong Island and Toh Tuck. In late February 2017, all the buses were transferred to Bukit Batok Bus Depot, where they remained until their retirement in 2019.
Soon Lee was also formerly home to Volvo B10M Mark IV (PSV Soon Chow) buses from 2004 to 2011. Ten of these buses were transferred from SBS Leisure, where they had previously operated on Sentosa bus routes. While two of the buses were converted into training vehicles for Hougang Depot, the remaining eight were garaged at Soon Lee Depot and deployed on Service 78 until they reached the end of their lifespan.
Another unique bus model associated with Soon Lee was the Volvo Olympian 2-Axle. In the mid-2000s, as non-air-conditioned (NAC) buses were being phased out across Singapore, the last remaining NAC buses—Volvo Olympian 2-Axles—were all transferred to Soon Lee Depot. Close to 100 of these buses were deployed on Jurong Industrial Services until they reached the end of their lifespan in 2011. Some of these buses were granted a two-year lifespan extension and were retired in 2013.
Soon Lee Depot also garaged several notable demonstrator buses, such as the Volvo B7RLE (SBS8030L) between 2007 and 2016, and Scania K230UB (SBS8033D) between 2007 and 2016, before both buses were converted to SBS Transit’s training fleet.
Short-lived trials of the Sunlong SLK6121UF14H hybrid buses (SBS8000Z & SBS8001X) between 2010 and 2012, and the Volvo B5RLE Hybrid (SBS8002T) in 2015, were also based out of Soon Lee.
SBS Transit appreciation post
SBS Transit reflected on its past two decades in a Facebook post on 31 August 2024, celebrating its success as Singapore’s first multi-storey bus park and the contributions of staff members.
As we bid farewell to SBS Transit’s operations at Soon Lee Bus Depot, we also celebrate the countless memories and milestones achieved over the past two decades. More than just a place of operations; it has been vital to supporting the daily journeys of thousands of commuters in Singapore’s west.
With SMRT Buses stepping in to continue this legacy, we welcome the new chapter with optimism, confident that the depot will remain a cornerstone of efficient and reliable public transport in the Jurong West region, now and in the years to come.