SBS Transit Bus Service 860 is a trunk route from Yio Chu Kang looping at Yishun, passing through Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, Upper Thomson Road, Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Avenue 9. It was the very first service to be introduced under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), linking the eastern sections of Yishun Ring Road with Khatib and Yishun MRT stations, before being extended to loop at Yio Chu Kang in October 2017.
↺ Yishun Int (Loop)
| Route Overview | ||||||||||||
Route  |
Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange ↺ Yishun Bus Interchange (Loop) | |||||||||||
| Passes Through | Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, Upp Thomson Rd, Sembawang Rd, Yishun Ave 3, Yishun Ring Rd | |||||||||||
| Route Length | 29.9 km | |||||||||||
| Travelling Time | 115 mins | |||||||||||
| Operator Information | ||||||||||||
| BCM Route Package | Seletar Bus Package | |||||||||||
| Current Operator | SBS Transit Ltd | |||||||||||
| Current Depot | Seletar Bus Depot (SEDEP) | |||||||||||
| Current Fleet | Single-deck buses | |||||||||||
| Operating Hours | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Yio Chu Kang |
Daily | |||||||||||
| 05:30 – 23:40 | ||||||||||||
| From 22:50 – 23:40 daily, buses departing Yio Chu Kang Int are renumbered as Service 860T which terminates at Yishun Int | ||||||||||||
| Departure Times from Yishun |
Daily | |||||||||||
| 05:30 – 23:30 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Frequency | ||||||||||||
| Loop Service | 6:30am–8.30am | 8.31am–4.59pm | 5.00pm–7.00pm | After 7.00pm | ||||||||
| Weekdays | 10 – 14 mins | 12 – 15 mins | 9 – 12 mins | 10 – 18 mins | ||||||||
| Saturdays | 11 – 12 mins | 11 – 15 mins | 13 – 15 mins | 14 – 15 mins | ||||||||
| Sundays / Public Holidays | 11 – 13 mins | 11 – 14 mins | 10 – 15 mins | 12 – 15 mins | ||||||||
| Fare Information |
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| Fare | Charges regular distance fares |
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Service 860 is a trunk route serving the housing estates of Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Springleaf as well as Tagore Industrial Estate with inter-town connections to key transport nodes at Yishun Bus Interchange / MRT as well as Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange / MRT. The route serves various schools around Yishun, and community amenities such as Yishun Swimming Complex.
Formerly looping at Yishun Ring Road, Service 860 was extended to loop at Yio Chu Kang on 15 Oct 2017, skipping Khatib MRT Station. Its short trip service 860A was also withdrawn on the same day, with new Feeder Service 807 & Short Trip Service 807A replacing the link between Yishun Ave 9 / Ring Road to Khatib MRT Station. From 23 Jan 2022, it was amended to start from Yio Chu Kang and loop at Yishun.
Historical Information:
Introduced on 21 Oct 2012, the route is the very first service to be introduced under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP). The route compliments Service 804, which frequently occurs overcrowding then and does not provide links to Khatib MRT. Service 860 also enhanced connectivity for residents of Yishun Ring Road.
The service benefited from a capacity upgrade in late April 2015, when SMRT arranged for a Mercedes-Benz O405G articulated bus to perform several round trips during the Weekday morning peak, going against the Land Transport Authority (LTA) regulations of deploying non-BSEP buses on BSEP bus services. However, Member of Parliament Dr Lee Bee Wah saw this arrangement as a permanent fixture and commended LTA for the “fleet improvement” for Service 860. Since the bus depot handling Service 860 (Ang Mo Kio Depot) could not accommodate double-decker buses back then, negotiations between LTA and SMRT Buses allowed for a permanent articulated bus crossover from Service 854 during the morning peak hours. This is the first known exception to the BSEP bus deployment regulation set by LTA.
The service received yet another fleet enhancement with a MAN A24 articulated bus being deployed on a daily basis on Service 860 from 15 November 2015. Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Mr Louis Ng joined Minister Ong Ye Kung along with SMRT Staff for “Launch of the bendy bus for Service 860”. However, this was not the debut of regular bendy bus arrangements (see above), but rather, a dedicated high-capacity articulated bus for Service 860.
On 12 January 2017, Double-Decker buses made their debut on Bus Service 860 as well as Short Trip Service 860A, catering to exceptionally high demand along Yishun Ring Road.
MRT Stations Served
- NS15 Yio Chu Kang
- TE4 Springleaf
- NS13 Yishun
Special Departures
- Yishun Int → Yio Chu Kang Int
Weekdays & Saturdays: 05:30, 05:39, 05:48, 05:57, 06:06 & 06:15
Sundays / Public Holidays: 05:30, 05:37, 05:45, 05:53, 06:04 & 06:15
Terminating Trips
- Service 860T: Yio Chu Kang Int → Yishun Int
Weekdays: 22:50, 23:02, 23:15, 23:27 & 23:40
Saturdays: 22:50, 23:03, 23:15, 23:27 & 23:40
Sundays / Public Holidays: 22:51, 23:04, 23:16, 23:28 & 23:40
Gallery (SBS Transit):
Service 860
Service 860T
Poster Gallery
Gallery (SMRT Buses):
Operator History:
- 21 Oct 2012 – 17 Mar 2018: SMRT Buses Ltd
- 18 Mar 2018 – Present: SBS Transit Ltd
The Bus Service Operating License (BSOL) for this route will be renewed in 2030 under the Seletar Bus Package.
History:
Service 860
- 2012 (21 Oct): Introduced between Yishun Int and Yishun Ring Rd (Loop) under the LTA’s Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP)
- 2012 (15 Nov): Designated wheelchair-accessible bus service (WAB)
- 2015 (14 Mar): Amended to Yishun Temp Int
- 2015 (06 Sep): Serves new pair of bus stops outside and opposite Blk 672C along Yishun Ring Rd
- 2016 (16 Oct): Serves new bus stop outside Blk 504C along Yishun Ring Rd
- 2017 (27 Aug): First bus on Sundays & Public Holidays brought forward from 0545hrs to 0530hrs
- 2017 (15 Oct): Extended to loop at Yio Chu Kang Int; First bus brought forward to 0530 hrs on Sundays & Public Holidays
- 2018 (18 Mar): Operations transferred to SBS Transit Ltd
- 2019 (08 Sep): Amended to Yishun Integrated Transport Hub
- 2022 (23 Jan): Amended to start from Yio Chu Kang Int and loop at Yishun Integrated Transport Hub
Service 860A
- 2015 (25 May): Introduced from Yishun Temp Int to Yishun Ring Rd (Opp Blk 798) during morning peak hours on weekdays
- 2015 (06 Sep): Serves new bus stop opposite Blk 672C along Yishun Ring Rd
- 2016 (16 Oct): Serves new bus stop outside Blk 504C along Yishun Ring Rd
- 2017 (15 Oct): Withdrawn with the route extension of Service 860 to Yio Chu Kang Int
Service 860T
- 2021 (11 Apr): Re-numbered from trips of Service 860 that terminate at Yio Chu Kang Int
- 2022 (23 Jan): Amended to start from Yio Chu Kang Int and terminate at Yishun Integrated Transport Hub
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860 current route should be considered for optimisation too. It heavily duplicates SMRT bus service 169 from Yishun Ave 3 to Upper Thomson Road. Optimising suggestions can be considered below.
1. Towards Yio Chu Kang direction and from Yishun Ring Road, instead of turning right to Yishun Ave 2, turn left to Yishun Ave 2 to go to Khatib MRT station and Yishun Stadium. After that, turn right to Yishun Ave 1 after passing Yishun Stadium, then turn left to Sembawang Road and follow the current route to Yio Chu Kang interchange. And vice versa when it is back to Yishun interchange as well.
This plan would benefit the Yishun residents to have faster access to Thomson East Coast MRT Line when it operates in the coming months, giving alternative MRT access instead of relying the North-South Line to travel to city. Secondly, it can also allow residents living in the Springleaf area, and serviceman from Nee Soon Camp to have direct access to Khatib MRT, in which none of the bus services that are currently operating can go to.
2. Introduce 860M, that travels from Yishun interchange and loops at Yishun Ave 3 in clockwise direction, to cover the deleted sectors of Sembawang Road, Yishun Ave 3, and Yishun Ave 2, based on Point 1 proposal. It should follow the route of proposed 860 from Point 1 going towards Yio Chu Kang interchange, then after that from Yishun Ave 1, turn right to go to Sembawang Air Base and Dieppe Barracks, which follows the current 860 route back to Yishun interchange. The frequency for 860M can be set at 10 mins during peak hours when there is demand, and 30 mins during off peak hours.
Absolutely should consider implementation of your point 1 suggestions. There are currently no bus service from the concerned yishun ring road part to bus stop 59049 (Opp Khatib Stn) where many crucial bus connections can be made, without additional walking transfers from bus stop 59429.
Your suggestion for point 1 is really excellent! It will create a fast link between Khatib and Springleaf MRT, which can be very valuable in the event of NSL disruption (or TEL disruption). Hopefully, LTA can consider your suggestions, and optimize other potential bus routes similar to this.
The bus is driving at extremely slow pace and stopping at every stop when there are no passengers. It’s definitely frustrating when it comes to peak hours when everyone is rushing for work and the bus captain needs to drag the bus to meet the timing and waste commuters time. Can the bus just drive at a normal pace?
Why does Bus 860 travel so slowly? It move like a tortoise crawling. The driver will stop at every bus stop even there is no passenger alighting or boarding. It took 40 mins from Khatib camp to Yio Chu Kang Interchange. At first i am very happy that there is a straight bus from Khatib to YCK interchange but it is so disappointed.
Given that 807 will replicate the Yishun Ring Road portion and that 860 will no longer call Khatib MRT, I do not quite understand why the new routing still needs to go through Yishun Ring Road. Would it be better to go via Yishun Central? That way, it will connect Springleaf/Teacher’s Estate directly to KTPH.
They still need 860 to ply at ring road to ease 807 load on morning peak hours and 860 is still the fastest way to get to khatib mrt station (walk from 846 bus stop) or major supermarket at block 845 inside block 400+ and 300+ cause 804 806 800 still go through 1 big round before reaching northpoint
An essential link for Yishun Ring Rd neighbourhood 3 & 4 where bus services were seriously lacking. Thanks to BSEP which brought in new routes like 103(extended), 663, 803 & 805. Look forward to more trunk route additions with the completion of several flats at St 51 and Ave 4 which will further increase 860’s current high loading.
Planners may consider diversion of existing routes from main road.