Newly opened Tengah Bus Interchange brings improved connectivity, but some remain unsatisfied

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Residents welcome new Tengah Bus Interchange & services, but some netizens are unsatisfied

As the new Tengah Bus Interchange began operations on Sunday (21 July), most residents welcomed the new development with optimism. However, some netizens also expressed concerns over how few bus services there were.

Currently, three bus services with newly adjusted routes run through the bus interchange — 870, 871, and 992. These bus services increase the Tengah’s connectivity to neighbouring estates such as Bukit Batok West, Bukit Gombak, and Beauty World.

Most notably, bus service 871 passes through Beauty World station, one of the MRT stations on the Downtown Line which connects to the Central Business District and the eastern side of Singapore.

Source: Google Maps

New bus services pass by schools

In an interview with The Straits Times (ST), a retiree who lives near Tengah said the new bus service 871 passes by a wet market near Keming Primary School.

An earlier article by ST also mentions that bus service 871 will pass by Dazhong Primary School and Hillgrove Secondary School in Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak respectively.

However, a Tengah resident said there should also be a bus service that plies Jurong East.

He mentioned that many children in Tengah attend schools in Jurong East, including his daughter who’s studying at Jurong Primary School.

Currently, his daughter takes two buses to school and the journey takes 45 minutes. The same journey takes about 10 minutes by car.

Some netizens unsatisfied with number of services

The need for additional bus services is echoed by netizens on Reddit.

This user posted a meme on the Singapore Subreddit, pointing out the disappointment when residents learned that there were only three bus services.

Source: PandaPast4690 on Reddit

Despite the satirical nature of the post, most replies defended the new bus interchange.

Some mentioned that service 871 connects residents to Beauty World station and by extension, Downtown Line.

Others pointed out that Tengah is still a very young HDB town, and that residents should be patient as more improvements are made over time.

They brought up other HDB towns such as Punggol and Sengkang and argued that those went through similar situations in the earlier phases of their development.