Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses for Changi Airport services

With effect from Sunday, 22 October 2017, bus services at Changi Airport are being served by Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses.

Terminal 4 Bus Stop in use
Terminal 4 Bus Stop in use

Bus Services 24, 27, 34, 36, 53, 110 and 858 are operating with nearly a full fleet of these European buses as part of an LTA mandate, which recently incorporated an in-bus announcement advising commuters to inform the Bus Captain if they see any suspicious persons or articles. As Citaro buses feature public announcement systems, these buses were used as a platform to launch such announcements.

The announcement is recorded in 4 languages (English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil) and is played at each Airport Terminal Building twice as part of the increased security presence at the Airport.

Please remember to take all your personal belongings when alighting. If you see any suspicious articles, report it to our Bus Captain.

These announcements are paired to the Trapeze CFMS system which has a GPS location feature and has the ability to play announcements automatically based on the actual location of the bus. However, outside of a short trial in early 2017, LTA only launched this feature for bus stop announcements with the Volvo B5LH buses in December 2018.

Exceptions

Go-Ahead Singapore, which operates Services 34 and 36, already operate on a full fleet of Citaro buses as it is the sole model of single-deck bus in its fleet. SBS Transit and SMRT Buses, which operate the remainder of bus services, have reallocated resources from other bus services to their Airport routes in compliance with this new requirements. However, SMRT Bus Service 858 continues to operate with several articulated MAN NG363F buses, which represent a capacity upgrade introduced in November 2015.

 


10 thoughts on “Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses for Changi Airport services

  • 29 October 2017 at 5:24 PM
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    no point doing this. I often see passengers carrying bulky luggages onboard the public buses and trains everywhere. This is already a big potential security threat.

    Reply
  • 28 October 2017 at 6:32 PM
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    So the 5 A24 which perm 858 also have the announcement system?110 & 858 should have a mix of SG A22 too.

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  • 27 October 2017 at 10:40 PM
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    Actually, just don’t understand the rationale for this massive redeployment. Totally inefficient use of resources.

    Why not just have portable voice recorders on each and every bus deployed on these routes.

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  • 26 October 2017 at 1:51 PM
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    The A22 can perform better on this one too

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  • 25 October 2017 at 11:18 PM
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    bad idea.

    Citaros are known for their poor acceleration and braking, and engine performance .

    Having a full fleet of citaros will make these routes more prone to delays, even slower speeds, and poorer punctuality.

    Reply

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