From Monday, 2 March 2020, City Direct Bus Service 666 will be operated by Go-Ahead Singapore. Formerly operated by BT & Tan Transport, it is the 14th City Direct service to be transferred from private to public bus operators.
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 Since then, City Direct Bus Services have been gradually withdrawn or transferred to Public Transport Operators.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 (PTOs) (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.
Since then, City Direct bus services were progressively transferred to PTOs. However, City Direct Services 658, 659, 662 & 664 were withdrawn in December 2018.
Summary of City Direct PTO changes (Click to expand)| Summary of City Direct PTO changes | |||
| City Direct | Last Private Operator | Incumbent PTO | Takeover Date |
| 651 | Rui Feng Chartered | Tower Transit | 13 Jan 2020 |
| 652 | Ren Quan Transport | SMRT Buses | 6 Jan 2020 |
| 653 | ComfortDelGro Bus | SMRT Buses | 13 Apr 2017 |
| 654 | BT&Tan Transport Service | SBS Transit | 22 Jul 2019 |
| 655 | Woodlands Transport Service | SBS Transit | 17 Apr 2017 |
| 656 | Loh Gim Chong Transport | SMRT Buses | 17 Apr 2017 |
| 657 | Transtar Travel | SMRT Buses | 24 Apr 2017 |
| 658 | Aedge Holdings | (Withdrawn from 17 Dec 2018) | — |
| 659 | Aedge Holdings | (Withdrawn from 17 Dec 2018) | — |
| 660 | Aedge Holdings | SBS Transit | 2 Jan 2019 |
| 661 | Aedge Holdings | Go-Ahead Singapore | 2 Jan 2019 |
| 662 | Aedge Holdings | (Withdrawn from 17 Dec 2018) | — |
| 663 | Bus Hub Service | Tower Transit | 28 Sep 2017 |
| 664 | Aedge Holdings | (Withdrawn from 17 Dec 2018) | — |
| 665 | Bus Hub Service | Tower Transit | 12 Oct 2017 |
| 666 | BT & Tan Transport | Go-Ahead Singapore | 2 Mar 2020 |
| 667 | Tong Tar Transport Service | — | — |
| 668 | BT & Tan Transport | — | — |
| 669 | Tong Tar Transport Service | (Withdrawn from 3 Jun 2019) | — |
| 670 | Tong Tar Transport Service | — | — |
| 671 | Rui Feng Chartered | SBS Transit | 13 Jan 2020 |
| 672 | Rui Feng Chartered | SBS Transit | 13 Jan 2020 |
City Direct Services Affected by Operator Change (Mar 2020)
City Direct 666
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 666 | Former Details | From 2 March 2020 |
| Operator | BT & Tan Transport Pte Ltd | Go Ahead Loyang Pte Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | No Change | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | No Change | No Change |
City Direct Services Affected by Operator Change Previously
City Direct 651
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 651 | Former Details | From 13 January 2020 |
| Operator | Rui Feng Chartered Pte Ltd | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0745hrs | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1815hrs, 1830hrs | No Change |
City Direct 652
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 652 | Former Details | From 6 January 2020 |
| Operator | Ren Quan Transport | SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0725hrs, 0730hrs, 0735hrs, 0740hrs, 0745hrs, 0750hrs | 0725hrs, 0733hrs, 0741hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1810hrs, 1825hrs | No Change |
SMRT Buses deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 652 from 6 January 2020 to compensate for the reduced number of Morning Trips.
City Direct 653
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 653 | Former Details | From 13 April 2017 |
| Operator | ComfortDelGro Bus Pte Ltd | SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0715hrs, 0721hrs, 0727hrs, 0733hrs, 0739hrs, 0745hrs | 0715hrs, 0725hrs, 0735hrs, 0745hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1810hrs, 1820hrs, 1830hrs | 1815hrs, 1830hrs |
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
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 654 | Former Details | From 22 July 2019 |
| Operator | BT&Tan Transport Service | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0735hrs, 0740hrs, 0745hrs, 0750hrs, 0755hrs | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1820hrs, 1827hrs, 1835hrs | No Change |
City Direct 655
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 655 | Former Details | From 17 April 2017 |
| Operator | Woodlands Transport Service Pte Ltd | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0745hrs | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1815hrs, 1830hrs | No Change |
City Direct 656
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 656 | Former Details | From 17 April 2017 |
| Operator | Loh Gim Chong Transport | SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0720hrs, 0726hrs, 0734hrs, 0740hrs | 0720hrs, 0730hrs, 0740hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1810hrs, 1825hrs | No Change |
Under SMRT Buses, one morning trip was cut from City Direct 656.
City Direct 657
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 657 | Former Details | From 24 April 2017 |
| Operator | Transtar Travel Pte Ltd | SMRT Buses Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0745hrs | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1815hrs, 1830hrs | No Change |
City Direct 660
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 660 | Former Details | From 2 January 2019 |
| Operator | Aedge Holdings Pte Ltd | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0735hrs, 0740hrs, 0745hrs, 0750hrs | 0730hrs, 0736hrs, 0743hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1820hrs, 1835hrs | No Change |
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
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 661 | Former Details | From 2 January 2019 |
| Operator | Aedge Holdings Pte Ltd | Go Ahead Loyang Pte Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0740hrs, 0750hrs | 0730hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1810hrs, 1825hrs | No Change |
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
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 663 | Former Details | From 28 September 2017 |
| Operator | Bus Hub Service Pte Ltd | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0720hrs, 0730hrs, 0740hrs, 0750hrs | 0720hrs, 0735hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1815hrs, 1830hrs | No Change |
City Direct 665
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 665 | Former Details | From 12 October 2017 |
| Operator | Bus Hub Service Pte Ltd | Tower Transit Singapore Pte Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0710hrs, 0716hrs, 0721hrs, 0727hrs, 0734hrs, 0740hrs | No Change |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1815hrs, 1830hrs | No Change |
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.
City Direct 671
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 671 | Former Details | From 13 January 2020 |
| Operator | Rui Feng Chartered Pte Ltd | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0730hrs, 0740hrs, 0750hrs | 0730hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1820hrs, 1835hrs | No Change |
SBS Transit deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 671 from 13 January 2020 to compensate for the reduced number of Morning Trips.
City Direct 672
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
| City Direct 672 | Former Details | From 13 January 2020 |
| Operator | Rui Feng Chartered Pte Ltd | SBS Transit Ltd |
| Weekday Morning Trips | 0735hrs, 0742hrs, 0750hrs | 0735hrs, 0750hrs |
| Weekday Evening Trips | 1820hrs, 1835hrs | No Change |
SBS Transit deployed Double-Decker Buses on City Direct 672 from 13 January 2020 to compensate for the reduced number of Morning Trips.
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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