February 4 - Trunks 111, 171, 990 (half); Feeders 804, 805
Starting the new month in the City, from nearby Marina Centre to be more specific, I caught Trunk Service 111 westbound to its parent terminus at Ghim Moh, passing through Somerset, Tanglin Road and Commonwealth, serving as a vital link from Ghim Moh to the city.
Departing from Marina Centre, with the newly-built South Beach Residences in view.
Ghim Moh, near Buona Vista, is a relatively mature housing estate currently in a process of regeneration. One thing it has is a roadside bus terminal, located on Ghim Moh Road and being one of the few left in use in Singapore.
The old bus stop pole at the alighting-only stop at the terminal.
Surroundings of the bus terminal, the field on the left used to be where a block of recently demolished flats was.
After having my lunch at the hawker centre nearby, I rode Service 111 back into the city, completing the round trip of the route from Ghim Moh to Marina Centre and looping back.
Traversing Tanglin and Orchard Roads on the route back to Marina Centre,
My next trip after that started from Marina Centre Bus Terminal proper, as the skies started to grey, I rode the entire length of Trunk Service 171 to Yishun, mimicking the Downtown MRT Line to Bukit Timah and Bukit Panjang, and linking through Mandai Road to Yishun New Town.
Aboard one of the new MAN A24 bendy buses, the route took it through Beauty World and the reservoirs near Mandai.
Yishun Town Centre, with the Temporary Interchange on the left side.
Arriving in Yishun, I had a little break before ticking off two Feeder Services, 804 and 805, which both serve Yishun Street 41, linking through to different parts of the town.
Yishun Avenue 4, served by 805, which also connects to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Yishun Ring Road, served by 804.
After doing these feeders, I headed to Jurong East for dinner, but before that, I stopped prematurely at Bukit Batok to take Trunk Service 990 to its looping point along Jurong Gateway Road, passing through Bukit Batok West and Toh Guan.
February 10 - Trunks 857 (half), 859, 882, 965; Feeder 912 (half)
This time I didn't bother with starting near the Central area because the first trip I took on this day was the Trunk Service 965 from Sengkang to Woodlands, a semi-express service like many others around the northern region of Singapore that links the respective New Towns using the Seletar and Tampines Expressways.
The route exits Sengkang around Compassvale and links up to Yishun before heading into Woodlands.
Yishun Avenue 2, with the redeveloping Yishun Town Centre in the distance.
A line of palm trees along Woodlands Square, outside Woodlands Temporary Interchange.
At Woodlands, I went on to take a loop of my first Intra-Town Feeder Service, 912, linking Woodlands Street 41 and Woodgrove Private Housing Estate to Woodlands Train Checkpoint and back to the town centre.
Intra-Town Feeders like 912 have two loops branching out from a parent Bus Interchange and serve said Interchange as an en-route stop after completing one loop before going on to serve the other one as a means of providing easy intra-town connectivity for residents. The loop I took was the West Loop.
Another trip on an old bendy.
After doing the West Loop of 912, I switched to Sembawang and did Trunk Service 882 which loops at Sembawang Park, near Sembawang Road End. The route also serves as a feeder service for residents of Wellington Circle and Montreal Drive, hence why there exists a shortworking trip 882A operating during weekday peak hours.
I actually got off here to have a walk-around. It was quite pleasant.
As evening approached, I started to head back south, I took Trunk Service 859 down to Yishun, a route which does a bi-directional loop of Sembawang New Town (with route variants 859A/B) before actually heading south via Sembawang Road to Yishun, providing inter-town connectivity for Sembawang residents.
My final leg was Trunk Service 857 down to the City and Little India via Yio Chu Kang and the Central Expressway. I actually did the reverse direction of this loop service back in December, and I finally came around to finishing the other half.
Dusk over Yishun Interchange and Khatib MRT Station.
The route uses a CTE express sector to connect the North to the City. (Passing Bishan)
Heavy traffic along Jalan Besar in the evening.
February 14 - Trunks 177 (half), 970, 973 (half), 979M; Feeder 920
I started this trip from Shenton Way Terminal, taking Trunk Service 970 westward to Bukit Panjang via Chinatown, Holland Village and Hillview, forming important commuter links in and around the vicinity of its route, notably between Commonwealth to Holland Village.
Navigating congested roads in the Central Business District
The route also passes through Alexandra Road and Sixth Avenue
Arriving in Bukit Panjang, I travelled back down to Hillview to finish the round trip of Trunk Service 973, which loops at Hume Avenue, travelling back to Bukit Panjang via the developing condominium estates of Hillview, Petir Road and Dairy Farm.
Hillview Road near the MRT Station. The disused KTM Railway down to Tanjong Pagar, which closed in 2011, used to traverse this road across a since dismantled bridge (where the two stone walls flank the sides of the road).
It was then that I decided to spend the day taking loop services in and around the residences of Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang. Next up was Feeder 920 to Bangkit Road and back via Senja Road and Saujana Road, primarily serving the residences of Bukit Panjang's interior, similar to its sister service 922.
After one loop around the interior of Bukit Panjang, it was a loop outside of Bukit Panjang. I took Trunk Service 979M, a temporary route variant of the very popular Trunk 979 between Bukit Panjang and Yew Tee.
979M was introduced to complement its parent service before finished roadworks at Stagmont Ring along Woodlands Road can allow 979 to be further amended.
979M loops at Choa Chu Kang North 5, serving the area in Yew Tee southeast of the MRT Station, with 979 intending also do so when it eventually gets amended and 979M is replaced and withdrawn.
New flats near Senja Way viewed from 979M's route along Woodlands Road.
Finally, rounding off my trip on that day, I took Trunk Service 177 to Bukit Batok from Bukit Panjang, another loop service that I have already taken in one direction. The route only operates during weekday peak hours and traverses MINDEF's Gombak Base as well as Hillview.
Bukit Batok Bus Interchange.
February 23 - Trunks 925, 963, 972 (half), 983 (half); Feeders 903, 912 (half)
Starting from HarbourFront that day, I took Trunk Service 963 all the way to Woodlands, where my trips today would be focused around. The route takes the bus via the Ayer Rajah Expressway, Bukit Batok and Bukit Panjang, forming a commuter artery in the region with plenty of sightseeing along the way.
Telok Blangah Road with the distinct skyline of the Reflections at Keppel Bay in the background.
Alexandra Road and The Interlace.
Service 963 was originally introduced as a Bukit Panjang-HarbourFront Express Service 521, it was extended to Woodlands and converted to a regular Trunk Service in 2002.
The route passes through the residential estates of Bukit Batok and Hillview.
The route then travels up the Bukit Timah Expressway to Woodlands.
After I reached Woodlands, I first ticked off Intra-Town Feeder 912's East Loop, which serves the residents of Woodlands Ring Road and Drive 50, connecting through to Admiralty and Woodlands MRT Stations respectively.
The bus was a Volgren-bodied Mercedes O405G Bendy Bus, which mainly operate in Woodlands and the West on SMRT's routes in the region. Seen here turning out of Woodlands Avenue 6.
Afterwards, I did Feeder Service 903, which mainly serves Marsiling in the northwest of Woodlands and is an important Feeder for the residents of the area, as the route is the only service which serves the very northern end of the estate. Buses running on 903 are hence usually crowded.
After the loop on 903, I took Trunk Service 925 down to Choa Chu Kang, the sole service that serves Kranji and Sungei Kadut Industrial Estates, there is also a short stub of the route which serves Kranji Reservoir Park and Dam.
The stub is fully utilised during Sundays when an alternate route of the service runs to Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve and back, skipping Sungei Kadut and Choa Chu Kang.
Passing Kranji MRT Station, mainly used by commuters to transfer to Johor Bahru-bound bus services.
Crossing the Kranji Dam facing north. Malaysian skyscrapers in the background.
Arriving in Choa Chu Kang, I connected through Trunk Service 983 to Bukit Panjang, another loop service that I already took one direction of. 983 loops at Bukit Panjang, connecting residents of Keat Hong to the Downtown Line.
Travelling up Choa Chu Kang Grove.
Finally, to round off the day, I took Trunk Service 972 from Bukit Panjang back to the City, a route that was introduced to take heavy loading from Bukit Panjang to the City away from Service 190, which has a similar route, except that 190 does not serve the interior of Bukit Panjang.
Condensation on the windows of the bus as it travelled down the Bukit Timah Expressway in the evening.
