SINGAPORE – The first bus service under a new initiative to improve the public bus network will connect residents of Yishun East to Khatib MRT station from Sept 15, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on Aug 29.
Service 861 will be run by bus operator Tower Transit Singapore. The service will operate between Sembawang Bus Interchange, Canberra MRT station and Khatib MRT station, according to Tower Transit Singapore.
The service will also better connect residents of Yishun and Sembawang to local amenities and schools, Mr Chee said in a Facebook post.
These include Khatib Polyclinic, Wisteria Mall and the Bukit Canberra integrated sports and community hub, as well as Chung Cheng High School (Yishun), Naval Base Primary School, Northland Secondary School and Chongfu School, among others.
The first bus of the day will depart from Sembawang Bus Interchange at 5.30am. The service will make its last trip from the same interchange at 11.30pm as service 861A, which will terminate at Khatib MRT station.
Service 861 is the first to be rolled out under the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP) announced in July.
Under the BCEP, up to $900 million will be spent over the next eight years to improve the bus network in several ways, including faster roll-out of bus services in new towns, more peak-hour express bus services, and more bus trips on certain routes.
Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng said many residents had been calling for this bus service.
“I am very happy their wishes have come true,” said Mr Ng, who helms the Nee Soon East division.
“This new bus service will benefit many Nee Soon East residents. The better connectivity, especially to Khatib MRT station and Chongfu School, is very much needed and will help many families, especially those with children.”
Yishun residents said they were also looking forward to the direct bus link to Bukit Canberra and Canberra MRT station.
Housewife Hash Hashim, 37, takes her three children to swim at Bukit Canberra at least once a month.
They now have to take a bus from their home in Yishun Avenue 9 to Yishun MRT station, where they ride the train to Sembawang MRT station, which is the closest stop to Bukit Canberra.
“It will be easy for us to travel from here to Sembawang, rather than taking the bus and the train,” she told The Straits Times.
Technical officer Muhammad Iqbal, 39, who lives in Yishun Street 31, said service 861 would make it easier for his wife to get to work by MRT.
While there is a bus service to Yishun MRT station from their nearest bus stop, the bus is packed to the brim in the morning.
To beat the crowd, he now drives his wife to Canberra MRT station so that she will have an easier commute.
Mr Iqbal hopes that service 861, which provides residents with another connection to the MRT, will ease peak-hour congestion on buses to Yishun MRT station.
Chongfu School pupil Grace Kong, 11, said she usually cycles to school from her home in Yishun Street 31, but with the upcoming introduction of service 861, she may take the bus instead.
A second service under the BCEP, a City Direct Service for residents of Punggol, will start in October.
The peak-hour express bus service “will provide residents with an alternative travel option and complement busier MRT lines”, Mr Chee said.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), which launched the BCEP in July, said the roll-out of bus services in new towns will be sped up, so early batches of residents will get access to public transport options as soon as possible, instead of having to wait for more people to move in.
Express feeder buses that will call at fewer stops will also be introduced, so those living in new housing developments a distance from the town centre and major transport nodes can get there faster, LTA said.
There are also plans to launch more peak-hour express bus services – including those from housing estates to the city – to complement busier MRT lines. LTA said it will also add bus trips to certain routes, roll out new services, and adjust some bus routes.
