TL;DR – These buses are part of Singapore’s plans to reduce carbon emissions and transit into a greener form of public transport by 2040.
20 brand new electric single-deck buses hit the public roads starting 25 Aug 2021!
These bright green Finnish-made Linkker electric buses are the third batch of electric buses to be deployed onto Singapore roads, following the rollout of 40 electric buses in 2020 which comprised of 30 single-deck and 10 double-deck electric buses. The 40 buses launched earlier were supplied by Chinese vehicle makers BYD (20 buses) and Yutong (20 buses).
These buses are part of Singapore’s plans to reduce carbon emissions and transit into a greener form of public transport by 2040.
Buses with three-doors
The new electric buses are equipped with three doors to facilitate smoother passenger exchanges.
Three-door buses have been in service since January this year when a batch of 50 MAN double-deck buses with three-doors were launched.
A second batch of 50 three-door double-deck buses from Alexander Dennis will be launched later this year, with one of such buses seen on training rounds.
Overhead charging at bus interchanges
The buses are also the first to be charged using overhead pantograph chargers. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) shared that these buses can be fully charged in 10 to 15 mins during the layover at bus interchanges.
These chargers are installed at Bedok and Bukit Panjang bus interchanges.
The new buses are deployed on four services namely:
- Service 38 (SBS Transit)
- Service 40 (SBS Transit)
- Service 176 (SMRT Buses)
- Service 976 (SMRT Buses)
Each of the two bus companies received 10 units of these buses.
Proof-of-concept electric bus
On top of the 20 new Linkker buses, a project involving the conversion of one diesel bus into an electric bus was undertaken by ST Engineering Land Systems, in collaboration with Linkker. The project involved the removal of the diesel engine and components and fitting up of electric traction motors and batteries.
According to local public transport enthusiast group, Land Transport Guru, the bus was assigned to SMRT Buses and was seen on regular test runs at Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange, alongside the new fleet of three-door electric buses.
Keep a lookout for this bus on the roads!
Greener and inclusive public bus fleet
The LTA has committed to having a greener fleet of public buses by 2040 to reduce vehicular carbon emissions in the face of a changing climate. This will be achieved by replacing all diesel-powered buses with cleaner energy buses upon the end of the lifespan of each model of diesel bus.
The second batch of three-door double-deck buses from Alexander Dennis as mentioned in the earlier section will be the final batch of Euro 6-compliant diesel buses to be launched and all future purchases of new buses will be either diesel-hybrid, fully electric ones, or both.
The buses are also designed to be inclusive to elderly passengers, passengers with young children, and passengers in wheelchairs. A centre pole at the entrance of the bus was removed to accommodate more space for passenger boarding and two wheelchair spaces are provided in the buses, which also functions as additional space for parents with baby strollers.
Operations and maintenance personnel will also be trained to operate and maintain these buses, lifting up competencies and knowledge pool.
These changes are a step towards better public transport journeys for all and if you are a commuter of any of these four bus services, do look out for the new buses and the features onboard! Happy journeys!
Safeguarding our transport workers’ welfare: NTWU and the Bus Contracting Model