Evaluation of Bids for Tampines Bus Package
Ministry of TransportSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan's query to the Minister for Transport regarding the evaluation of Go-Ahead Singapore’s $646 million Tampines bus package bid against the lowest $596 million bid, specifically asking about evaluation weightages, bidder rankings, and quality justifications. In response, Mr Jeffrey Siow stated that the tender used a 60:40 quality-price weightage, where Go-Ahead Singapore attained the highest quality and overall scores, while SBS Transit placed second overall despite offering the lowest price. The other bids submitted by Tower Transit Singapore and SMRT Buses were more expensive and scored lower in quality than SBS Transit's bid. The price premium was justified by Go-Ahead Singapore’s superior capability to manage large-scale electric bus operations, supported by knowledge transfer from its London operations. Following initial transition issues, bus reliability as of end-September 2026 has matched or exceeded the previous operator on most routes, with the Land Transport Authority working alongside Go-Ahead Singapore to improve remaining services.
Transcript
109 Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan asked the Minister for Transport with regard to Go-Ahead Singapore's $646 million alternative bid for the Tampines bus package against the lowest base bid of about $596 million (a) what were the respective weightages for quality and price; (b) how each shortlisted bidder ranked on quality and on total score; and (c) what quality factors justified the price difference.
Mr Jeffrey Siow: The quality-price weightage for the Tampines bus package was 60:40.
The winning bid from Go-Ahead Singapore had the highest score in quality and the highest overall score. While SBS Transit's price bid of $596 million was the lowest, it had the second highest overall score after accounting for quality. The other bids by Tower Transit Singapore and SMRT Buses were higher priced and scored lower in quality than SBS Transit's bid.
The Tampines package was the first tendered bus package involving large-scale electric bus deployment. Accordingly, greater emphasis was placed on the tenderers' plans to manage electric bus operations and maintenance at scale. Go-Ahead Singapore's proposal was strongest in this regard, based on detailed plans to transfer knowledge and operational experience from its sister company's electric bus operations in London to Singapore.
Since the initial transition period, where Go-Ahead Singapore faced teething issues as it took over operations, the reliability performance for the Tampines package has improved. As of end-September 2026, the reliability of most of the bus services in the package have now matched or exceeded the performance under the previous incumbent. Nevertheless, we recognise that performance on some routes can be further improved and the Land Transport Authority is working with Go-Ahead Singapore to address these issues.