Transfer of City Direct 652 & 671 to Public Transport Operators

City Direct Bus Service 652 will be operated by SMRT Buses from 6 January 2020. Formerly operated by Ren Quan Transport, it is the 10th service to be transferred from private to public bus operators.

In addition, City Direct Bus Service 671 will be operated by SBS Transit from 13 January 2020. It is formerly operated by Rui Feng Chartered Pte Ltd.

City Direct Bus Services were introduced in 2014 as part of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) and were solely operated by Private Bus Operators up to April 2017. Since then, City Direct Bus Services have been gradually withdrawn or transferred to Public Transport Operators.

Background

On 13 June 2013, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) called for tender VT387 City Direct Services, which consisted of City Direct routes 652 to 660. 6 of the 9 bus services in the tender were awarded to 5 different Private Bus Operators on 9 November 2013. Each contract for the City Direct route lasts 2 years.

The remaining 3 routes (658, 659 & 660) were not awarded due to unsatisfactory bids. These routes were re-tendered out in later November 2013 as “PT162 City Direct Bus Services” and later awarded to Aedge Holdings Pte Ltd in February 2014.

In January 2015, LTA exercised its option to extend the contract period for City Direct Services 651 – 657 for a duration of one year.

On 1 Aug 2016, LTA called for tender “PT288 City Direct Bus Services“, which consisted of City Direct Services 652 – 657. The contract for City Direct 654 was awarded to BT&Tan Transport Pte Ltd for SGD $1,226,507.60 on 14 November 2016. BT&Tan subsequently took over City Direct 654 in January 2017.

The remaining routes that were not awarded were subsequently either transferred to Public Transport Operators (653, 655, 656 & 657) or continue to be operated by the existing Private Bus Operator (652).

Subsequent tenders called by LTA for City Direct Services in 2017 (PT309 – City Direct Bus Services for 658 – 660 and PT321 – City Direct Bus Services for 661 – 665) were not awarded to any Private Bus Operators.

City Direct Bus Service 663 & 665 were transferred over to Tower Transit Singapore on 28 September 2017 and 12 October 2017, while City Direct 660 & 661 was transferred to SBS Transit and Go-Ahead Singapore respectively from 2 January 2019. In addition, City Direct 654 was transferred to SBS Transit from 22 July 2019.

City Direct Services 658, 659, 662 & 664 were withdrawn in December 2018. (Main Article: Discontinuation of 4 City Direct Bus Services)

City Direct Services Affected by Operator Change (Jan 2020)

City Direct 652

Double-Decker Buses will be deployed on City Direct 652 from 6 January 2020 to compensate for the reduced number of Morning Trips.

City Direct 671

Double-Decker Buses will be deployed on City Direct 671 from 13 January 2020 to compensate for the reduced number of Morning Trips.

City Direct Services Affected by Operator Change Previously

City Direct 653

SMRT Buses deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 653 from 13 April 2017 to compensate for the reduced number of AM & PM Trips.

City Direct 654

City Direct 655

City Direct 656

Under SMRT Buses, one morning trip was cut from City Direct 656.

City Direct 657

City Direct 660

SBS Transit deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 660 from 2 January 2019 to compensate for the reduced number of AM Trips.

City Direct 661

Go-Ahead Singapore deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 661 from 2 January 2019 to compensate for the reduced number of AM Trips.

City Direct 663

City Direct 665

Double-decker buses were added to City Direct 665 from 9 April 2018 due to growing demand, with the AM trip departure timings adjusted to 0700, 0708, 0716, 0724, 0732 & 0740.

References:

• LTA awards contracts for six new city direct bus services – LTA
• 7 City Direct bus services extended for another year – Straits Times

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