Boon Lay Bus Interchange

Boon Lay Bus Interchange is an air-conditioned bus interchange located at Jurong West Central, serving residential areas around Jurong West and industrial area around Pioneer. It is the fourth air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore, integrated within Jurong Point shopping mall and The Centris condominium, and located a short distance away from Boon Lay MRT station. Nearby public amenities include the Juong West Community Building and Jurong Central Park. It also serves a variety of passengers, including those from Nanyang Technological University, Jurong Industrial Estate and Tuas Industrial Estate and has been among the largest and busiest bus interchanges in Singapore, handling 31 services in the past until a few services were amended to the newer Joo Koon Bus Interchange in 2015.^[1]

Boon Lay Bus Interchange 文礼巴士转换站 Pertukaran Bas Boon Lay
Public Bus Interchange
Interior of Boon Lay Bus Interchange.
General information
Location	61 Jurong West Central 3, Singapore 648330
Coordinates	1°20′24″N 103°42′20″E
Owned by	Land Transport Authority
Operated by	SMRT Buses Ltd (SMRT Corporation)
Bus routes	22 (SMRT Buses) 6 (SBS Transit) 1 (Tower Transit Singapore)
Bus stands	11 End-on 6 Sawtooth 5 Alighting
Bus operators	SMRT Buses Ltd SBS Transit Ltd Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd
Connections	EW27  JS8  Boon Lay
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Accessible	Accessible alighting/boarding points Accessible public toilets Graduated kerb edges Tactile guidance system
History
Opened	1 July 1990; 34 years ago (1990-07-01) (Old) 18 June 2006; 18 years ago (2006-06-18) (Temporary) 27 December 2009; 15 years ago (2009-12-27) (Integrated Transport Hub)
Closed	17 June 2006; 18 years ago (2006-06-17) (Old) 7 May 2010; 15 years ago (2010-05-07) (Temporary)
Key dates
1 July 1990	Commenced operations
18 June 2006	Operations transferred to Temporary bus interchange
27 December 2009	Most operations transferred to new and air-conditioned bus interchange as Integrated Transport Hub
8 May 2010	Remaining operations transferred to new and air-conditioned bus interchange as Integrated Transport Hub
1 September 2024	Operations transferred to SMRT Buses under the Jurong West Bus Package

History

Boon Lay Bus Interchange began operating on 1 July 1990 with services that used to terminate at the former Jurong Bus Interchange at Jurong Port Road and Jurong East Bus Interchange being re-routed to terminate there. That time, the Jurong West extension and Tuas Industrial area was still largely under development. As both areas are undergoing development, more bus services were introduced and by the early 2000s, there were about 30 bus services terminating at the interchange.

That time, there used to be an empty land beside the former interchange. In 2006, the land where the former interchange sits at and the land beside it was sold together as a 'White site' to Prime Point Development Pte. Ltd. and soon the land where the former interchange sits at was acquired to construct the Jurong Point Extension.

The old bus interchange

The temporary bus interchange which operated from 18 June 2006 to 26 December 2009

From 18 June 2006 to 26 December 2009, the interchange had its operations temporarily next to Boon Lay MRT station, at an empty plot of land surrounded by Boon Lay Way and Jurong West Street 64 while the bus interchange was being rebuilt as part of the Jurong Point extension project. The project consisted of the extension of Jurong Point (JP2), the new Boon Lay Bus Interchange and a 16-storey condominium that is known as 'The Centris'.^[2]

On 27 December 2009, the interchange moved back to its original location and all operations (except for bus Service 179, 179A and 199 which continued to operate at the temporary interchange till 7 May 2010^[3]) resumed at the re-constructed interchange located along Jurong West Central 3.^[4][5][6][7] Built over 20,000 square metres, it is Singapore's fourth air conditioned bus interchange and the first along the East West line. In total, it has 60 bus bays and 31^[4][8] boarding/alighting wheelchair accessible^[9] berths with 22 of them being end-on and 9 of them being sawtooth (6 for boarding and 3 for alighting). Together with Boon Lay MRT station and Jurong Point, it is part of the Boon Lay Integrated Transport Hub.

With the opening of Joo Koon Bus Interchange on 21 November 2015, Services 182, 182M, 254, 255 and 257 were relocated to Joo Koon Bus Interchange in phases. It reduced overcrowding at Boon Lay Bus Interchange. A further change was made on 18 June 2017 with the opening of Tuas West Extension, Services 256 and 258 were merged into service 258 and skipped the interchange.^[10]

In 2022, LTA announced that the interchange will be upgraded with inclusive amenities and better air conditioning system. ^[11]

Incidents

On 23 August 2017, a 17-year-old teenager made a bomb threat and repeatedly made death threats including making racist and expletive-laden comments.^[12][13] The teenager later ran off and was arrested two days later at Jurong Point in a police statement.^[14]

Bus Contracting Model

See also: Bus contracting model of Singapore

Under the Bus Contracting Model, all bus services operating from Boon Lay Bus Interchange were divided into 9 Bus Packages, operated by three different bus operators.

From 1 September 2024, Boon Lay Bus Interchange is operated by SMRT Buses on a five-year term.

List of Bus Services

See also: List of bus routes in Singapore

Operator	Package	Routes
SBS Transit	Bedok	30
	Bishan-Toa Payoh	157
	Bukit Merah	198
	Clementi	174/174e
	Serangoon-Eunos	154
SMRT Buses	Choa Chu Kang-Bukit Panjang	172, 180
	Jurong West	179/179A, 181/181M, 192, 193, 194, 199, 240, 241, 242, 243G, 243W, 246, 249, 251, 252, 405
	Woodlands	178, 187
Tower Transit Singapore	Bulim	79