SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Dec 6 (Friday) that four new City Direct Services for Northeast residents travelling to the central business district during peak hours will be launched from Jan 2, 2025.
These are 675, 676, 677, and 678, which will serve as alternatives to the North East Line. These express bus services will run two morning and two evening trips at peak hours during weekdays, except for public holidays.
- CDS 675 begins at the bus stop at Block 953 Yio Chu Kang Road and will make stops at Hougang Avenues 9, 4, 10, 2, and 3 and Tampines Road.
- CDS 676 begins at the bus stop at Block 477A Upper Serangoon Road and will make stops at Hougang Avenues 7 and 5.
- CDS 677 begins at the bus stop at Block 110 Punggol Road) and will make stops at Sengkang East Way, Anchorvale Road, Sengkang East Avenue, Punggol Road, and Buangkok Drive.
- CDS 678 begins at the bus stop at Block 162B Punggol Central and will make stops at Edgefield Plains, Punggol North Avenue, Punggol East, and Sengkang East Drive.
As these are direct bus services, the vehicles will go straight to the CBD, with a first stop at Hub Synergy Point on Anson Road and a final one at Suntec Tower Two on Temasek Boulevard.
In the evenings, commuters may begin boarding at the bus stop at Suntec Tower Three on Temasek Boulevard.
Aside from these four city direct services, the LTA also announced that a new service, 976, will be launched in Woodlands on Jan 12, 2025, to serve residents who live at Woodlands Avenue 1 and those living at Marsiling and Admiralty.
Also, by February 2025, Service 230 will be extended to Toa Payoh Lorong 7 and 8, as well as Caldecott MRT station, which will improve connectivity from Toa Payoh East to the Thomson-East Coast Line and Circle Line.
All these are part of LTA’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), which was introduced in July 2024.
Notably, beginning from Dec 9 (Monday), a new express feeder was introduced to bring a faster connection to the Tampines town center and transport hub for residents in the Tampines North and Tampines West areas.
“Service 298X will serve selected bus stops along the regular route of its parent service, Service 298,” SBS said in a Nov 18 Facebook post.
It will serve 15 selected bus stops and operate on weekdays during peak periods, except public holidays. Regular feeder service fares apply. It starts and ends at the Tampines North Bus Interchange. /TISG