Go-Ahead City Direct Bus Service 678

City Direct Bus Service 678, operated by Go-Ahead Singapore, is a weekday peak-hour City Direct service connecting Punggol East to the Central Business District (CBD). It is introduced under the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP).

City Direct 678 commenced operations on Thursday, 2 January 2025.

678
65269 Blk 162B Punggol Ctrl
65279 Bet Blks 187/188 Punggol Ctrl
65381 Punggol Sec Sch Edgefield Plains
65391 Blk 672A Edgefield Plains
65581 Opp Blk 683A NEW Punggol North Ave
65591 Opp Blk 662A NEW Punggol North Ave
65569 Blk 654D Punggol East
65189 Bef Punggol Ctrl Punggol East
65239 Riviera Stn Exit A PE4 Punggol East
65529 Aft Punggol Field Punggol East
67529 Opp Blk 157A Sengkang East Dr
03222 Hub Synergy Pt Anson Rd
03223 Tanjong Pagar Stn Exit C EW15 Anson Rd
03151 Opp GB Bldg Cecil St
03381 The Sail Marina Blvd
03391 Marina Bay Financial Ctr NS27TE20CE2 Marina Blvd
03511 Aft Bayfront Stn Exit E CE1DT16 Bayfront Ave
03501 Marina Bay Sands Theatre Bayfront Ave
02169 Promenade Stn Exit B CC4DT15 Temasek Ave
02141 Suntec Twr Two Temasek Blvd
02149 Suntec Twr Three Temasek Blvd
02161 Aft Promenade Stn Exit C CC4DT15 Temasek Ave
02171 Opp The Ritz-Carlton Temasek Ave
03509 Bayfront Stn Exit B/MBS CE1DT16 Bayfront Ave
03519 Bayfront Stn Exit A CE1DT16 Bayfront Ave
03539 Marina Bay Stn NS27TE20CE2 Central Blvd
03529 Downtown Stn Exit E DT17 Central Blvd
03129 UIC Bldg TE19 Shenton Way
03217 Opp AXA Twr EW15 Shenton Way
67521 Blk 160 Sengkang East Dr
65521 Waterwoods Punggol East
65231 Riviera Stn Exit B PE4 Punggol East
65181 Aft Punggol Ctrl Punggol East
65561 Blk 659A Punggol East
65599 Blk 662A NEW Punggol North Ave
65589 Blk 683A NEW Punggol North Ave
65399 Blk 670A Edgefield Plains
65389 Opp Punggol Sec Sch Edgefield Plains
65271 Opp Blk 188 Punggol Ctrl
65261 Blk 649 Punggol Ctrl
Route Overview
Route WAB_logo_20px [AM]: Punggol Central (Blk 162B) → Temasek Boulevard (Suntec Twr Two)
[PM]: Temasek Boulevard (Suntec Twr Three) → Punggol Central (Blk 649)
Passes Through Edgefield Plains, Punggol Nth Ave, Punggol East, Anson Rd / Shenton Way, Marina Blvd / Central Blvd, Bayfront Ave
Route Length Towards Temasek Blvd: 28.1 km
Towards Punggol Ctrl: 27.3 km
Travelling Time [AM Peak] 95 mins | [PM Peak] 100 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package Loyang Bus Package
Current Operator Go-Ahead Singapore
Current Depot Loyang Bus Depot
Current Fleet Single-deck buses
Operating Hours
Departure Times from Punggol Ctrl
Weekdays, except Public Holidays
07:25 – 07:40
Departure Times from Temasek Blvd
Weekdays, except Public Holidays
18:00 – 18:15
Operating Frequency
From Punggol Ctrl
15 mins
From Temasek Blvd
15 mins
Fare Information
Fare Charges express distance fares

Service 678 offers residents of Punggol East improved connectivity to the Central Business District, including Marina Bay Sands and Suntec City, providing a direct travel alternative to commuters who typically rely on the rail network and feeder buses. As a City Direct service, it only operates on weekdays.

Starting from Punggol Central (Blk 162B) in the morning, the service calls at stops along Edgefield Plains, Punggol North Avenue, Punggol East, and Sengkang East Drive. It then plies express from Sengkang East Drive to Anson Road via the KPE and MCE. The route is similar in the reverse direction, plying express from Shenton Way to Sengkang East Drive.

If the eves of Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Chinese New Year fall on a weekday, the Evening Peak departures will be brought forward to the afternoon. Revised departure times will be provided by the operator closer to the affected date.

Routing

Service 678 is the third City Direct service to be introduced in Punggol, after Services 666 and 673. Two pairs of bus stops are shared with City Direct 666—along Punggol East (65181 – Aft Punggol Ctrl / 65189 – Bef Punggol Ctrl; and 65231 – Riviera Stn Exit B / 65239 – Riviera Stn Exit A).

Despite the similar catchment areas around Riviera, both routes head to the CBD via different directions; with Service 666 headed west towards Punggol Way, TPE and CTE, while Service 678 headed south towards KPE, making the latter a faster option towards the City especially for residents near Riviera.

Service 678 also serves two new pairs of bus stops along Punggol North Ave, making it the first bus service to call at these bus stops.

The last pair of bus stops before the express sector is along Sengkang East Drive before Sengkang East Way (67521–Blk 160 / 67529–Opp Blk 157A), after which two pairs of bus stops along Sengkang East Drive are skipped before the bus enters Buangkok East Drive. These skipped stops are only served by Bus Service 62 and could have been skipped to avoid duplicating catchment areas with City Direct 654, which plies nearby via Rivervale Drive.

This service was introduced under the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), a scheme launched in 2024 that facilitated the introduction of more bus services, including peak-hour City Direct services.

Travel Smart Journeys

This bus service is part of the latest Travel Smart Journeys – North-East Line Scheme, starting from 2 January 2025. Eligible commuters who switch to this service can earn cashback in the form of e-transport vouchers.

MRT / LRT Stations Served
Departure Timings

Weekdays (except Public Holidays)

  • Morning Peak from Punggol Central (Blk 162B):
    07:25 & 07:40
  • Evening Peak from Temasek Boulevard (Suntec Twr Three) :
    18:00 & 18:15

Gallery

Operator History
  • 2 Jan 2025 – Present: Go Ahead Singapore Pte Ltd
Route History
  • 2025 (2 Jan): Introduced from Punggol Central (Blk 162B) to Temasek Blvd (Suntec Twr Two) during morning peak hours and from Temasek Blvd (Suntec Twr Three) to Punggol Central (Blk 649) during evening peak hours, as a City Direct bus service under the LTA’s Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP).

Past Routings


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10 thoughts on “Go-Ahead City Direct Bus Service 678

  • 7 December 2024 at 8:19 AM
    Permalink

    Peak hour NEL already 1 min apart. What you want to improve? If one of the train encounter a failure, already bottle neck all the way to HBF. Sometimes the behind train have to wait awhile to enter platform cos there is already one stopping in front.

    Passengers need to adjust their travelling pattern. If CDS service is not meant for you, does not mean it is not useful for those who have the capacity to pay premium fares and later working hours.

    Reply
  • 7 December 2024 at 8:07 AM
    Permalink

    They really pampered the north-east region with these four new city directs. Now they have so many options to get to the city. For reference, they are 654, 660/M, 666, 671, 672, 673, 675, 676, 677 & 678, which are 11 city directs.

    Reply
    • 7 December 2024 at 10:09 AM
      Permalink

      Northeast is really REALLY lacking transport options, compared to the East & North (both having many trunk services to the central, plus having many alternative MRT such as TEL). The northeast (mainly focusing on Sengkang & Punggol) only has NEL to rely on with only a small handful of bus services to the central (62 & 80 are the only ones in SK & PG)

      Hougang is a huge town, thus requiring quite a handful of CDS too.
      It’s about convenience for residents.

      (Meanwhile, the west is stagnant as well, despite having much more trunk services, thus expect the west to be “pampered” too, with Tengah as well)

      Reply
      • 8 December 2024 at 12:33 PM
        Permalink

        Not really for west side especially in a town called Yew Tee which have lack of transport options to the city. In fact Yew Tee previously have CDS 662 not sure why they want to withdrawn it & force commuters to take 979 & trf to DTL instead.

        Reply
        • 11 December 2024 at 12:49 PM
          Permalink

          Exactly what I’m saying. West side very stagnant, ESPECIALLY Yew Tee.
          CDS 662 was withdrawn due to low demand though, so was Premium 556 & 590 before 662 existed.

          Reply
    • 7 December 2024 at 1:04 PM
      Permalink

      Pork barel politics at work, mate. Election coming. Need to win back the areas in the northeast held by alternative party.

      Reply
    • 7 December 2024 at 5:36 PM
      Permalink

      I don’t think it’s considered pampering, when LTA themselves made the mistake 20 years ago cutting, just some examples, 97, 106, 111, 502, giving them to the west instead.

      Yep, 20 years ago that would work, because hougang, buangkok, sengkang and punggol are still being developed.

      Now? It’s a mad house everyday, with trains being full directly from terminus stop (Punggol) itself. Making matters worst, this starts everyday from 0700, and became super crowded between 0800 – 0900. Sometimes, passengers from Buangkok can’t even board, let alone hougang and kovan.

      I don’t think the CRL would even solve this problem since it doesn’t serve areas currently served by NEL.

      Reply
      • 8 December 2024 at 12:22 AM
        Permalink

        Should have just merged 82/107. They only kept 147 because it was turning over fat profits. 133 was at risk and likely spared by the truncation of 82 and 97. As such, 107 had to be extended to avoid backlash.

        Reply
  • 7 December 2024 at 12:45 AM
    Permalink

    They’ll really do anything except improve the NEL frequency huh 😭😭😭 what’s the point of going in a huge circle too before leaving the town just start from further in the circle… no one is going to have the time to ride one big round they’ll just get off at the other bus stop near the end of the circle

    Reply
    • 7 December 2024 at 10:02 AM
      Permalink

      Think Think Think! Where do you think buses park after finishing the route? For 678, it is Loyang. The circular structure of the route makes it easier for drivers to navigate back to Loyang Bus Depot, else more resources is wasted outside of revenue service

      Reply

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