Bus service 167 to cease, some routes shortened with increased ridership on Thomson-East Coast Line
Bus services 162 and 75 will be shortened, while some other routes will be adjusted.
Bus service 167, seen here at a bus stop along Upper Thomson Road, will cease from Dec 10, 2023, the Land Transport Authority said on Nov 17. (Photo: CNA/Suen Wai Kit)
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SINGAPORE: With more commuters using the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), some bus services will be discontinued or adjusted from Dec 10.
Bus service 167 - which connects areas such as Sembawang, Upper Thomson, Novena, Orchard, the central business district and Bukit Merah - will cease operations.
"Adjustments will be made to existing services to help preserve the connectivity along key segments of the original route of service 167," the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday (Nov 17).
Service 859 will be amended to travel along Canberra Link and Sembawang Road, said LTA, adding that this will also enhance connectivity to Bukit Canberra.
The frequency of service 980 - which serves a similar sector as service 167 between Sembawang and Thomson Road - will be increased.Â
All three services are operated by Tower Transit Singapore.
SERVICE 162 AND 75 SHORTENED
According to LTA, some bus services plying routes along segments of the TEL have seen an overall decrease in ridership of around 30 to 40 per cent.
It added that adjustments to bus routes will therefore be made to "reduce the duplication of bus services with TEL and to reallocate finite resources to residents from new estates within our towns".
Service 162 and 162M operated by SBS Transit will be combined into a single service 162 - and the route will be shortened to travel only between Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange and Sin Ming.
It will no longer service Thomson Road and the central business district.Â
"Amendments to the route will also enhance local connectivity within the Sin Ming area, as well as provide new connections to Upper Thomson Road," said LTA.
Service 75 operated by SMRT Buses will also be shortened. It will no longer serve Outram Park MRT Station, Shenton Way and Marina Centre, according to SMRT's website.
The service will now terminate at Bukit Merah Bus Interchange instead of Marina Centre Bus Terminal, with amendments made to its route to enhance connectivity for Kim Tian Road residents, said LTA.
To maintain service 75's original connection between Outram Park MRT and the residential estates in Cantonment area, SBS Transit's service 121 will be amended to ply Cantonment Road enroute to Shenton Way Bus Terminal.
Information on the changes will be available at all relevant bus stops and bus interchanges, as well as on the websites of LTA and the bus operators.Â
LTA noted that since the opening of the TEL's Stage 3 (TEL3) - the stretch of stations from Stevens to Gardens by the Bay - the MRT line's average weekday ridership has almost tripled from 60,000 in October 2022 to 177,000 in October 2023.
"Eighty per cent of journeys involving TEL3 saw shorter travelling times, of which about 30 per cent saved more than 10 minutes," the agency said.
It gave an example of a resident staying near Mayflower station who can now commute to the CBD via Shenton Way station in just 30 minutes via TEL, compared with 45 minutes by bus.
"The same resident visiting Gardens by the Bay now takes 40 minutes with TEL, saving 25 minutes," LTA said.
The TEL is Singapore's sixth MRT line and will connect the eastern and northern parts of Singapore once it is fully completed in 2025.
Singapore’s MRT network will have eight rail lines when Phase 1 of the Cross Island Line opens in 2030.
