Singapore Converts Bus Terminal Into Eight Sheltered Pickleball Courts

Farrer Park once produced footballer Quah Kim Song and swimmer Ang Peng Siong. Now it is producing dink shots and third-shot drops. Eight sheltered pickleball courts opened March 14 inside the Little India Bus Terminal, converting a stretch of covered waiting space that sat empty most of the week into one of Singapore's most inventive community sports facilities.

The venue, officially named ActiveSG Courts @ Farrer Park, was inaugurated by Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry Alvin Tan, who called Farrer Park the "spiritual home of sport in Singapore." The courts opened to public bookings via the MyActiveSG+ platform on March 16.

The project is a collaboration between Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Alvin Tan framed the conversion in practical terms: "It is primarily used on Sundays for our migrant worker community and is unused from Mondays to Saturdays. So we thought of how to better utilise an underutilised space, and given that pickleball is a growing sport in Singapore and many of my residents have asked for more sporting spaces, including for pickleball." He also tied it to something larger: "A key part of this is a broader vision for us to bring back sports to Farrer Park."

The dual-use arrangement was designed specifically to avoid displacing Sunday bus operations. Yeo Teck Guan, LTA's Senior Group Director for Public Transport, explained: "By retrofitting sections of Little India Bus Terminal into pickleball courts, we are optimising the use of available space while minimising impact on current Sunday bus operations serving migrant workers. This smart, dual-use arrangement allows the bus terminal to serve both transport and community needs, and we hope it will bring more communities together." Courts operate 9am to 9pm, Mondays to Saturdays, according to Malay Mail, while the terminal functions normally on Sundays.

The demand driving this kind of creative infrastructure thinking is not subtle. ActiveSG facility bookings for pickleball increased tenfold between 2023 and 2025. ActiveSG Chief Tan Hock Leong pointed to the broader implication of what the conversion demonstrates: "This shows us what is possible when we think about how existing spaces can be utilised to better serve our growing sporting communities."

The Little India courts are one piece of a significantly larger build-out. During the 2026 Committee of Supply Debate, Sport Singapore announced 50 additional multipurpose courts for badminton and pickleball will be constructed over the next five years, part of a Sports Facilities Master Plan targeting accessible facilities within a 10-minute walk of most homes by 2030. In the Moulmein-Cairnhill division specifically, Alvin Tan noted a multi-purpose sports complex is also planned next door, comprising two swimming pools, a children's pool, an ActiveSG gym, and sports fields. A larger ActiveSG Sport Park @ Farrer Park is also in development, set to include a sheltered swimming complex, inclusive gyms, and a multi-purpose play area.

For a sport that barely registered in Singapore's booking systems three years ago, eight courts inside a bus terminal is a striking symbol of how fast pickleball has forced its way into the infrastructure conversation.