SBS Transit Bus Service 851

SBS Transit Bus Service 851 is a trunk route between Yishun Bus Interchange and Bukit Merah Bus Interchange, passing through Lentor, Ang Mo Kio, Thomson, Rochor Canal, City Hall, Chinatown and Tiong Bahru.

Technical Information
Route	Yishun Bus Interchange ↔ Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
Passes Through	Ang Mo Kio Ave 6, Thomson Rd, New Bridge Rd, Eu Tong Sen St, Tiong Bahru Rd
Route Length	23.5 km (D1) | 23.1 km (D2)
Traveling Time	86 – 102 mins
Operator Information
BCM Route Package	Seletar Bus Package
Current Operator	SBS Transit Ltd
Current Depot	Seletar Bus Depot (SEDEP)
Current Fleet	12-metre Single Deck Bus: – MAN A22 12-metre Double Deck Bus: – Volvo B9TL
Departure Times from Yishun	0530hrs – 2340hrs (Daily)
Departure Times from Bukit Merah	0540hrs – 2345hrs (Daily)
Frequency	Direction 1	Direction 2
	0630-0830: 08 mins 0831-1659: 07 – 12 mins 1700-1900: 08 – 12 mins After 1900: 10 – 12 mins	0630-0830: 09 – 10 mins 0831-1659: 07 – 12 mins 1700-1900: 07 – 09 mins After 1900: 10 – 12 mins

Service 851 is a trunk route serving between the housing estates of Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Marymount, Thomson, Bukit Merah and Tiong Bahru with connections to the City areas, namely Chinatown, Bras Basah and Rochor Canal. The route is frequented as a popular connection between various housing estates, as well as between housing estates and the City. As such, it benefits from high demand throughout the day, with high capacity buses deployed on a daily basis.

The route shares its popular Tiong Bahru – Bras Basah connection with Service 33, and also shares long duplicating sectors with Service 852 and 853/853M between Yishun–Marymount and Yishun–Ang Mo Kio respectively.

MRT Stations Served

• NS13 Yishun
• NS14 Khatib
• NS15 Yio Chu Kang
• CC16 Marymount
• CC17 Caldecott
• NS20 Novena
• NE7DT12 Little India
• DT13 Rochor
• EW12DT14 Bugis
• EW13NS25 City Hall
• NE5 Clarke Quay
• NE4DT19 Chinatown
• EW16NE3 Outram Park
• EW17 Tiong Bahru

Route Variant

• Express Bus Service 851e
  [Dir 1]: Yishun Bus Interchange →  New Bridge Rd (Aft Duxton Plain Pk)
  [Dir 2]: Eu Tong Sen St (Bef Pearl’s Hill Terr) → Yishun Bus Interchange
  Daily

Special Departures

• Marymount Rd (Blk 260) → Bukit Merah Int
  Weekdays: 0545hrs

Fare: Charges basic distance fares. See Bus Fares.

Gallery (SBS Transit)

Operator History

• 1985 – 2004: Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd
• 2004 – 24 Mar 2018: SMRT Buses Ltd
• 25 Mar 2018 onwards: SBS Transit Ltd

The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2023 under the Seletar Bus Package.

History

• 1985 (17 Feb): Introduced by TIBS between Yishun Central and Bukit Merah.
• 1987 (23 Aug): Amended to Yishun Int
• 2009 (01 Jun): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus route (WAB)
• 2015 (14 Mar): Amended to Yishun Temp Int
• 2015 (Jun): Bus Service Reliability Framework (BSRF) implemented for trial till Aug 2016
• 2016 (18 Sep): Start of Double-Decker bus deployments.
• 2018 (25 Mar): Operations transferred to SBS Transit as part of the Seletar Bus Package
• 2018 (27 May): Route variant Express 851e launched
• 2019 (08 Sep): Amended to Yishun Integrated Transport Hub
• 2020 (12 Jan): Skips removed bus stops 55271 – Aft Lentor Flyover & 55279 – Lentor Flyover along Lentor Ave

Past Routings

• Refer to this article
• 2019: No significant route changes since 2019.

More pictures (SMRT Buses) on Page 2