City Direct Services

City Direct Services (CDS) are express bus services in Singapore that connect residential estates with the Central Business District (CBD) / town area via expressways.

These routes operate during the weekday peak hours only, offering City-bound trips in the morning, and return trips in the evenings. These services charge Express fares.

List of City Direct Services

Brief History

City Direct Services (CDS) were introduced under the Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP) in line with the Government’s plan to provide more options for commuters using stretches of existing rail lines which experience persistently high ridership. Most of these routes were introduced between 2013 and 2016.

With limited stops and usage of expressways, the travel time for commuters is comparable to taking a feeder bus/LRT and transferring to the MRT to the City, and without the hassle of transferring between different public transport modes. For this convenience, CDS charges express fares, which are higher than regular basic fares.

An initial 10 City Direct services were launched, starting with CDS 651 in September 2013, and CDS 652–660 from January 2014 to June 2014. Each City Direct service was introduced with two morning and evening trips, with more trips added on routes with higher demand. Four similar

In March 2024, an expansion of the BSEP was announced, increasing the number of CDS to 20. This was revised to 22 new CDS services in March 2015. Services 661–672 were introduced between September 2015 and November 2016.

In July 2024, the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme was launched. Under the BCEP, the Government announced that more peak-hour express bus services, such as City Direct Services, will be introduced to provide alternatives for residents to complement busier MRT lines.

In December 2025, a new tranche of City Direct services were launched under the BCEP that connected the heartlands with Novena, Newton, Orchard, Somerset, and Dhoby Ghaut. This was the first time that City Direct routes were not routed to serve the CBD.

In June 2026, existing peak-hour express bus routes which served the CBD, namely 513, 868E, 951E, 982E & 850E, were converted to City Direct services and renumbered as 646 to 650, respectively. All services (except 868E) were introduced under the BSEP but predated the launch of the first City Direct service. Numbered City Direct 646 to 650, this is the first time that the 64x series route numbers are used for City Direct; these were previously used by Scheme B bus routes that have since been discontinued.

Private Bus Operators

At the start, Private Bus Operators were contracted to operate City Direct routes, to augment the resources of public transport operators.

After their initial two-year operating contracts with Private Bus Operators had expired, most City Direct services were transferred to Public Transport Operators. Poorer performing services were withdrawn. CDS 658, 659, 662 & 664 were withdrawn in December 2018, while CDS 669 was withdrawn in June 2019. By December 2020, all City Direct bus services were operated by Public Bus Operators.

Handover dates are detailed in the Timeline section below.

Fare History

When the first 10 CDS routes were introduced between 2013–2014, flat fares were charged, equivalent to the full distance of the bus route under the distance-based Express fare scheme. Fares could be paid via card or cash upon boarding, with no tap-out necessary, and no transfer discounts offered.

When the subsequent tranche of CDS routes 661–665 was launched in September 2015, these services were integrated with the distance-based fare structure used across the public transport network. With buses now fitted with the same fare collection equipment as public buses (including entry and exit readers), commuters could pay Express fares corresponding to the exact distance travelled, and benefit from transfer discounts between CDS and other buses/trains under distance-based fare rules.

An LTA press release in September 2015 mentioned that the existing 651–660 would be converted to Distance Fares progressively from 4Q 2015, with the full transition expected to be completed by mid-2016.

CBD Routing

In general, the routing in CBD for CDS is as follows:

Operating Hours:

City Direct Services operate on weekdays only (excluding public holidays).

Single-direction trips from the Heartlands to the CBD are operated during the morning peak hours, while return trips are operated during the evening peak hours.

Evening return trips will be brought forward to the early afternoon on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve & Chinese New Year’s Eve, should these dates fall on a Weekday. Exact departure timings will be announced by the respective bus operators closer to the dates.

Fares:

These services charge Express fares based on distance-based fare scheme.

Timeline

• 2012 (21 Nov): Tender for CDS 651 published (Contract VT371)
• 2013 (13 Jun): Tender for CDS 652 – 657 published (Contract VT387); Contract for CDS 651 awarded (Contract VT371).
• 2013 (09 Nov): Contracts for CDS 652 – 657 awarded (Contract VT387)
• 2013 (26 Nov): Tender for CDS 658 – 660 published (Contract PT162)
• 2014 (03 Feb): Contracts for CDS 658 – 660 awarded (Contract PT162)
• 2015 (09 Feb): Tender for CDS 661 – 665 published (Contract PT221)
• 2015 (11 Mar): Announcement of 12 more CDS to be launched by LTA from Q2 2015 onward, an increase of 2 CDS from the original announcement.
• 2015 (21 Jul): Contracts for CDS 661 – 665 awarded (Contract PT221); Routing region for CDS 666 – 670 announced.
• 2015 (05 Aug): Tender for CDS 666 – 670 published (Contract PT233)
• 2015 (14 Dec): Contracts for CDS 666 – 670 awarded (Contract PT233)
• 2016 (18 Jan): 1 year extension of contracts for CDS 651 – 657
• 2016 (15 Apr): Tender for CDS 651, 671 & 672 published (Contract PT270)
• 2016 (01 Aug): Contracts for CDS 651, 671 & 672 awarded (Contract PT270); Tender for CDS 652 – 657 published (Contract PT288)
• 2016 (14 Nov): Contract for CDS 654 awarded (Contract PT288). No award for CDS 653, 655, 656 & 657.
• 2017 (Apr): Transfer of operations for CDS 653, 655, 656 & 657 to Public Transport Operators under the Bus Contracting Model (BCM)
• 2017 (12 May): Tender for CDS 658 – 660 published (Contract PT309)
• 2017 (22 Jun): Tender for CDS 661 – 665 published (Contract PT321)
• 2017 (10 Jul): No award for CDS 658 – 660
• 2017 (30 Aug): No award for CDS 658 – 660
• 2017 (28 Sep): Operations for CDS 663 transferred to Public Transport Operator Tower Transit under the BCM
• 2017 (12 Oct): Operations for CDS 665 transferred to Public Transport Operator Tower Transit under the BCM
• 2018 (17 Dec): CDS 658, 659, 662 & 664 discontinued
• 2019 (02 Jan): Operations for CDS 660 & 661 transferred to Public Transport Operators SBS Transit & Go-Ahead Singapore respectively under the BCM
• 2019 (03 Jun): CDS 669 discontinued
• 2019 (22 Jul): Operations for CDS 654 transferred to Public Transport Operator SBS Transit under the BCM
• 2020 (06 Jan): Operations for CDS 652 transferred to Public Transport Operator SMRT Buses under the BCM
• 2020 (13 Jan): Operations for CDS 651 transferred to Public Transport Operator Tower Transit under the BCM; Operations for CDS 671 & 672 transferred to Public Transport Operator SBS Transit under the BCM
• 2020 (02 Mar): Operations for CDS 666 transferred to Public Transport Operator Go-Ahead Singapore under the BCM
• 2020 (09 Mar): Operations for CDS 667 transferred to Public Transport Operator SBS Transit under the BCM
• 2020 (30 Mar): Operations for CDS 670 transferred to Public Transport Operator SMRT Buses under the BCM
• 2020 (14 Dec): Operations for CDS 668 transferred to Public Transport Operator SBS Transit under the BCM
• 2024 (14 Oct): Launch of CDS 673 under the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP)
• 2024 (11 Nov): Launch of supplementary CDS 660M under BCEP; Extension of CDS 654 to Anchorvale Cres under BCEP; Extension of CDS 671 & 672 to Temasek Blvd via Bayfront Ave under BCEP
• 2024 (25 Nov): Launch of CDS 674 under BCEP; Extension of CDS 666 to Temasek Blvd via Bayfront Ave under BCEP
• 2025 (02 Jan): Launch of CDS 675, 676, 677, 678 under BCEP
• 2025 (15 Dec): Launch of CDS 679, 680, 681, 682 & 683 under BCEP
• 2026 (15 Jun): Launch of CDS 684 under BCEP; Conversion of peak hour Express Bus Services 513, 868E, 951E, 982E & 850E to City Direct Bus Services 646 – 650 respectively

LTA BSEP Poster for CDS

City Direct Summary Poster

External Links:

• City Direct route plans
• City Direct Poster

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