[Defunct] SMRT Express Bus Service 188R

SMRT Express Bus Service 188R was a weekend express route between Choa Chu Kang Interchange and Resorts World Sentosa, passing through Choa Chu Kang Way, Bukit Gombak, Bukit Batok, Toh Guan, AYE, Telok Blangah and HarbourFront. It is a route variant of service 188 and a weekday express variant 188e is also operated.

Service 188R will be discontinued from 30 June 2022. The service had been suspended since 15 April 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Route Overview
Route	Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange ↔ Resorts World Sentosa
Passes Through	Choa Chu Kang Way, Bt Batok West Ave 2, Toh Guan Rd, Telok Blangah Rd
Route Length	Towards Resorts World Sentosa: 23.7 km						Towards Choa Chu Kang: 23.8 km
Travelling Time	75 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Choa Chu Kang–Bukit Panjang Bus Package
Former Operator	SMRT Buses Ltd
Former Depot	Kranji Bus Depot (KJDEP) Buses park at: Woodlands Bus Park
Former Fleet	Single-Deck Bus: – MAN A22
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Choa Chu Kang	Saturdays & Sundays / Public Holidays
	07:00 – 22:00
Departure Times from Resorts World Sentosa	Saturdays & Sundays / Public Holidays
	08:30 – 23:30
Operating Frequency
	6:30am–8.30am			8.31am–4.59pm			5.00pm–7.00pm			After 7.00pm
From Choa Chu Kang	35 mins			30 – 35 mins			30 – 33 mins			27 – 31 mins
From Resorts World Sentosa	N.A.			30 – 33 mins			28 – 33 mins			30 – 33 mins
Fare Information
Fare	Charges express distance fares

Service 188R was an express bus service which operated on Saturdays, Sundays and Public holidays. Duplicating sectors of Service 188, the service connects the residential estates of Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Jurong East with Telok Blangah, HarbourFront and Resorts World Sentosa.

The route plies a long express sector along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) in both directions, skipping stops along AYE, Clementi Road and Pasir Panjang altogether, making it a very fast connection from the housing estates in the West to the central areas of HarbourFront and Sentosa island.

The route was introduced in May 2010, to compliment the opening of Resorts World Sentosa earlier that year. Along with Service 123 and 963R, passengers are spared from Sentosa admission charges, and they provide an alternative to Service RWS8 for an inbound journey from HarbourFront. Passengers can board from Bus Stop 14129 – Telok Blangah Rd (HarbourFront Stn Exit A).

The service was suspended from 15 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation in Singapore. It continued to remain suspended until its discontinuation on 30 June 2022. The last day of operations was on 12 April 2020.

MRT / LRT / Sentosa Monorail Stations Served

• NS4BP1 Choa Chu Kang
• BP2 South View
• BP3 Keat Hong
• CC28 Telok Blangah
• NE1CC29 HarbourFront
• S2 Resorts World

Route Variants

• Bus Service 188: Choa Chu Kang Int ↔ HarbourFront Int
  Daily
• Express Service 188e: Choa Chu Kang Int → HarbourFront Int
  Weekdays, except Public Holidays: 07:08 & 07:23

Gallery

Poster Gallery

Operator History

• 1 May 2010 – 29 June 2022: SMRT Buses Ltd

History

• 2010 (01 May): Introduced between Choa Chu Kang Int and Resorts World Sentosa, operating on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays only
• 2015 (22 Mar): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
• 2018 (16 Dec): Amended to relocated Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange.
• 2020 (15 Apr – 01 Jun): Temporarily suspended due to Singapore COVID-19 Circuit Breaker Measures.
• 2020 (02 Jun): Suspended until further notice
• 2022 (30 Jun): Service discontinued; last day of operations on 12 April 2020

Past Routings

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