SINGAPORE – After complaints from some Tengah residents on a lack of connectivity, the authorities have announced a new bus service and two route extensions.

From Nov 26, the new bus service 870 will serve residents at an existing bus stop at Block 111 of Plantation Crescent.

This will connect residents to amenities in Jurong East and the market at Bukit Batok Block 156, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor, the MP for Hongkah North SMC, said on Facebook on Wednesday.

From December, bus service 870 as well as 992, which goes to Bukit Batok, will also be extended to include two new bus stops – one directly opposite Plantation Village and the other outside Plantation Grange.

This will provide added convenience for residents living in various precincts within Tengah, Dr Khor said.

This will take place after the completion of works for the Jurong Region MRT line (JRL) – sited near the bus stop at Block 111 – and Plantation Crescent is extended to connect with and form a junction with Tengah Boulevard.

The future Tengah Plantation MRT station along Plantation Crescent is under construction and will be completed by 2028, while Tengah MRT station located within the upcoming Tengah town centre will be ready by 2027. The JRL is slated to open in three stages from 2027 to 2029.

The Plantation district – flanked by Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Garden Walk, Tengah Drive and Tengah Boulevard – is one of five planned housing districts within Tengah.

The Plantation district comprises five Build-To-Order projects – Plantation Grange, Plantation Acres, Plantation Village, Plantation Grove and Plantation Creek – which will provide 10,000 new homes when completed.

The Housing Board said the keys for about 295 of the 2,333 units in Plantation Acres and Plantation Grange had been collected as at Sept 26.

Service 870 – operated by Tower Transit – will join two other existing bus services serving Tengah.

Service 992, also operated by Tower Transit, connects residents to Bukit Batok MRT station and bus interchange.

SBS Transit service 993 goes to Jurong East interchange, but its closest bus stop to current Tengah residents is one along Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, which is about a 30-minute walk away from Plantation Grange.

The long walk to their nearest bus stops was a point of complaint for residents, as The Straits Times reported on Oct 9.

A more direct path to the pavement connecting Plantation Grange to the bus stop at Plantation Crescent has since been built, improving access for residents using service 992 and the future service 870.

Tengah residents welcomed the new bus service and route extensions, although some raised concerns about their usefulness.

Plantation Grange resident Ken Quek, 40, who is unemployed, said he appreciated that one of the new bus stops will be “right under” his estate, since it reduces his walking distance to the bus stop to the minimum.

Likewise, for Mr Eric Chua, a 39-year-old engineer, the new bus service 870 will bring added convenience to his daily commute as he can travel directly to Jurong East to get to his office in Clementi.

Administrative assistant Chan Si Hui, 39, said her elderly parents, both 75, will feel much safer walking to the new bus stop closer to Plantation Grange in December, since they would not need to go around ongoing construction for the JRL. She said her parents will be able to commute to West Mall and the Bukit Batok area more conveniently.

On the other hand, Mr Chan Yuke Man, 58, estimates that the new service 870 would lengthen his daughter’s daily journey to St Anthony’s Primary School by 10 minutes. The homemaker said he would continue using 992 to take his daughter to school, which entails two bus transfers.

Other than the school run, he seldom uses service 992 as it “does not go to any helpful locations” besides Bukit Batok Polyclinic, Bukit Batok MRT station and West Mall, he said.

Mr Quek pointed out that Tengah residents lack direct bus services to many nearby neighbourhoods, and getting to his parents’ flat in Keat Hong in Choa Chu Kang – which is just a 10-minute drive away – takes about an hour via public transport.