Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

1°36′23″N 104°25′24″E / 1.60639°N 104.42333°E / 1.60639; 104.42333

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange
大巴窑巴士转换站
Pertukaran Bas Toa Payoh

Public Bus Interchange
Toa Payoh Bus Interchange
General information
Location530 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, Singapore 310530
Singapore
Owned byLand Transport Authority
Operated bySBS Transit Ltd (ComfortDelGro Corporation)
Bus routes20 (SBS Transit)
1 (Tower Transit)
Bus stands14 (End-on)
4 (Boarding)
3 (Alighting)
Bus operatorsSBS Transit
Tower Transit
Connections NS19  Toa Payoh
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
AccessibleAccessible alighting/boarding points
Accessible public toilets
Graduated kerb edges
Tactile guidance system
History
Opened26 December 1983; 40 years ago (1983-12-26)
31 May 1998; 26 years ago (1998-05-31) (Temporary)
19 May 2002; 22 years ago (2002-05-19)
Closed30 May 1998; 26 years ago (1998-05-30)
18 May 2002; 22 years ago (2002-05-18) (Temporary)
Key dates
26 December 1983Commenced operations
31 May 1998Operations shifted to temporary interchange
19 May 2002Operations shifted back to new and air-conditioned interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. At its time of opening in 19 May 2002 by then Minister for Transport, Yeo Cheow Tong, it was the first air-conditioned bus interchange in the country. It has a direct connection from the bus interchange to the Toa Payoh MRT station on the North South line.

History

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Original interchange

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The original interchange was built at a cost of S$2.17 million and opened on 26 December 1983.[1] It replaced a bus terminal that had been in operation since 1971.[citation needed]

Relocation of bus interchange in 1998

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When the old Toa Payoh Bus Interchange was demolished on 31 May 1998 to make way for the building of HDB Hub, the new and current headquarters of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) of Singapore, the interchange operator, SBS Transit Ltd, moved its bus operations to a temporary location opposite its original site located at Toa Payoh Town Park, which was upgraded after the temporary interchange was demolished.

Bus interchange located in HDB Hub

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Bus services from the temporary bus interchange moved on 19 May 2002, back to the bus interchange original site, which has a direct underground connection to Toa Payoh MRT station. It is notably the first bus interchange in Singapore to be fully air conditioned[2] and it is housed within the building of HDB Hub.

Counter-terrorism exercise

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The Toa Payoh Bus Interchange participated in the Exercise Northstar V counter-terrorism exercise on 8 January 2006, which simulated a terrorist bomb attack on various transport infrastructure, including MRT stations and bus interchanges.[3]

Bomb hoax

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Similar to other bomb hoaxes at Hougang and Jurong East, 21-year-old Lin Zhenghuang was sentenced to 3 months in jail on 7 February 2007 and fined S$4000 for eight charges under the Computer Misuse Act. The charges were for 'mooching' or illegally tapping into his neighbour's unsecured wireless internet network and posting a bomb hoax on an online forum of popular technology site HardwareZone. Lin previously pleaded guilty to one charge under the Telecommunications Act for transmitting a false message and nine charges under the Computer Misuse Act. The accused posted a message on 22 July 2005, reporting that there had been a bomb attack at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange.[4]

Bus contracting model

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Under the new bus contracting model, all the bus routes were split into 6 route packages, operated by different public bus operators.

List of routes

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Operator Package Routes
SBS Transit Bishan-Toa Payoh 8, 26, 73, 88, 139/139A, 142/142A, 155, 157, 230, 231, 232, 235, 238
Bukit Merah 145
Sengkang-Hougang 159, 163
Serangoon-Eunos 90, 141
Tampines 28, 31
Tower Transit Singapore Bulim 143

Service 73 does not terminate at Toa Payoh Interchange. Instead, 73 does not layover and loops in the interchange back to Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange.

References

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  1. ^ "Quiet start at Toa Payoh interchange". The Straits Times. 27 December 1983. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via NewspaperSG.
  2. ^ "Speech By Mr Yeo Cheow Tong At The Opening Of The First Airconditioned Bus Interchange At Toa Payoh Sunday on 19 May 2002". www.mot.gov.sg. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Twenty-two agencies in Exercise Northstar V ready for action". Channel NewsAsia. 3 January 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007.
  4. ^ "Bomb hoax youth gets 3 months' jail, $4,000 fine". Asia Media. 8 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008.
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