Getting to RP from Tampines!

Posted by: TeamOnTheRightTrack

Republic Polytechnic: It may be a tertiary institution but RP attracts people from all around Singapore for various different reasons – a state-of-the-art library, large variety of entertainment and good food. Photo credit: Norazreen binti Abd Haris

	Time	Fare	Advantage	Disadvantage
Service 168	1 hour 9 mins	S$1.81	Quick ride to Woodlands	May need to wait for a few bus before able to board
Service 969	57 mins	S$1.83	Quick ride and able to change to train	Slow at Yishun area

Are you staying in the East and looking for the best way to get to RP? If so, do read on!

So, why Tampines specifically? Well, in our previous post, we found out that many RP students stay in the East and Tampines is a common starting point for them to get to school. So, it dawned upon us: What is the fastest way to get to RP from Tampines?

Being daily users of public transport, we have realised that taking the train is not always the best option to get to Woodlands from Tampines as the ride is long and line transfers are inevitable. Hence, we feel that the better option to get to Woodlands is by bus. From Tampines, there are two different bus services that travel to Woodlands Regional Interchange. They are SBS Transit’s Service 168 and SMRT’s Service 969. Here’s what we discovered on our journey to RP!

Our Journey on Service 168
Service 168 starts its journey from Bedok Interchange. But the bus starts to get crowded once it approaches Tampines Regional Library which happens to be our starting point. Although SBS Transit deploys double-decker buses, it did not alleviate the situation as the bus tends to get full and we had to miss a few buses before being able to squeeze our way in.

However, the bus ride was quite smooth and quick. There were not many stops in between and the journey through TPE definitely cut down plenty of travelling time for us. We feel that this service allows most people to reach Woodlands quickly and is even comparable to driving your own car! The only downside is that you have a high chance of being late in case of a traffic jam since there is no other alternative to switch to.

Our Journey on Service 969 

As for Service 969, we found out that it is very crucial to get to Tampines Interchange early.  The later it is into the morning, the worse the queue at the interchange gets. This would force you to wait for a long time before being able to get on a bus. But the good thing is that the buses are seldom crowded. This is because commuters do not tend to squeeze into the bus and would rather wait for the next bus to come. So, they would not even mind if you decide to board the bus after allowing those who are queuing ahead of you in. This can definitely be helpful if you are in a hurry, just make sure everyone in the queue has stopped moving in before boarding the bus if you are not in the line.

The journey is similar to Service 168. Although the bus took a short while to get to Marsiling, it tends to slow down quite a bit once it reaches Yishun.  However, we decided that this service was better than the other. Why? Because we can always switch to the train at Marsiling and Yishun if there is a need to do so! This may just help you reach RP earlier.

Getting to RP from Woodlands Regional Interchange

From Woodlands, you can either take Service 169 or simply take a 10 minutes’ walk to RP. Alternatively, you can choose to take Service 902 from 7.30am to 10am on RP school days.  Depending on the crowd, the waiting time for these buses may vary from 5 to 15 minutes.

So that concludes our post for today. Do you have a better route from Tampines? If so, do share them below with your fellow commuters!