New weekday bus service connects Tengah estate to CBD from Nov 25
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The morning city direct service 674, operated by bus operator Tower Transit, will serve six bus stops in Tengah Drive, Tengah Garden Walk, Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Boulevard and Plantation Crescent,
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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SINGAPORE – A new weekday bus service linking Tengah town to the central business district will start running on Nov 25, with two trips each during the morning and evening peak travel hours.
The morning city direct service 674, operated by bus operator Tower Transit, will serve six bus stops in Tengah Drive, Tengah Garden Walk, Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Boulevard and Plantation Crescent.
It will make five stops in the Central Business District: Mapletree Anson, after Capital Tower, 80 Robinson Road, The Sail, and Marina Bay Financial Centre.
The return service in the evenings will pick passengers up from four stops at Marina Bay station, Downtown station, UIC Building, and opposite AXA Tower.
It will then take residents to six stops within Tengah in Tengah Boulevard, Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Garden Walk, and Tengah Drive.
Service 674 will operate during peak hours on weekdays, departing from Tengah Drive at 7.35am and 7.50am, and from Marina Bay station at 6.15pm and 6.30pm. It will not run on public holidays.
The new service is being rolled out as part of the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), a government programme to enhance public transport links for those living in new developments.
It was announced by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Transport and MP for Hong Kah North, in a Facebook post on Nov 7.
She said she was thrilled to deliver this city direct service that will “offer much convenience” to residents, which comes after feedback was received from residents.
Ms Chan Si Hui, 39, welcomed the introduction of service 674, describing it as “very good news” that came a year after she moved into her Plantation Grange flat.
As the administrative assistant’s office is located in Tanjong Pagar, she estimates that the new service will shorten her commute to work from one hour and 20 minutes via three bus and train transfers to just under an hour via one bus journey and one MRT ride.
Tengah resident Cong Yeo, 40, will similarly benefit from the new service as it would cut the number of transfers he needs to take to get to his workplace in Clarke Quay.
Although the duration of his commute will remain the same, at around one hour, the lecturer said he needs to change buses just once with the new service, compared with changing MRT lines twice and switching between two buses in his current journey.
Mr Yeo suggested that more trips be added to service 674 during the evening peak hour, as he usually works late and leaves his office after 7pm.
In September, service 861, which connects residents in Yishun East to Canberra and Khatib MRT stations
Announced in July, the programme will help to meet increased demand for bus services among earlier residents of new housing projects.
Expected to cost up to $900 million over the next eight years, the programme will include enhancements to bus services to new housing projects and more peak-hour express bus services for those living farther from major transport nodes.
Separately, two weeks before service 674 is introduced, another new city direct service, No. 660M, connecting Buangkok to the central business district will start running on Nov 11, according to public transport operator SBS Transit.
Also on Nov 11, the routes for existing city direct services 654, 671 and 672 will be extended to more bus stops.
The route for service 654 will be extended to Anchorvale Crescent, while the routes for services 671 and 672 will be extended to Bayfront and Suntec City.
