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Tengah BTO Summary
| Tengah Amenities | Details |
|---|---|
| Food vending machines | Block 111A Plantation Acres |
| Fairprice grocery truck | Plantation Acres on Wednesdays and Fridays; Plantation Grange on Thursdays, from 3pm to 8pm. |
| Supermarket | Giant Supermarket at Plantation Plaza |
| Food | Koufu food court, McDonald's at Plantation Plaza |
| Shops | Daiso at Plantation Plaza |
| Bus | Plantation Grange Bus 992, 993 started on Sep 24, 2023, Bus 870 started in November 2023. Tower Transit morning & evening city direct service 674 from 25 Nov 2024 |
| Bus interchange | Tengah Bus Interchange opened 21 Jul 2024 |
| MRT | Tengah Part MRT to complete in 2028 (JRL) |
Tengah BTO News
- 25 Nov 2024: Tower transit bus 674 will start running in the morning & evening.
- 16 Nov 2024: Novo Place EC launch day
- 11 Nov 2024: $1.4 Million worth of drugs seized in Tengah Plantation Crescent by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB)
- 21 Jul 2024: Tengah Bus Interchange opens
- 28 June 2024: Plantation Plaza Neighbourhood centre opens
- December 2023: FairPrice grocery truck and food vending machines at Plantation Grange, Plantation Acres open
Tengah Bus 674
| Tower Transit Bus 674 Route | Tengah | Central Business District |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Tengah Drive (7.35am and 7.50am), Tengah Garden Walk, Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Boulevard and Plantation Crescent | Mapletree Anson, after Capital Tower, 80 Robinson Road, The Sail, and Marina Bay Financial Centre |
| Evening | Tengah Boulevard, Tengah Garden Avenue, Tengah Garden Walk, and Tengah Drive | Marina Bay station (6.15pm and 6.30pm), Downtown station, UIC Building, and opposite AXA Tower |
The keys for 2,019 units – about 54 per cent of the 3,753 units in the first three Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Tengah – were collected by Dec 5, 2023, HDB said. The third project is Plantation Village.
Safety officer Zulfadli Rawi, 28, who moved into his Plantation Acres four-room flat in October, also prefers doing the same. It is a 15-minute walk to Sheng Siong, he said.
The Straits Times reported in October that Tengah residents had highlighted the inaccessibility of public transport in the new town. A poll of 59 residents found that some wanted a direct bus service to Jurong East.
HDB said on Dec 13 that two bus services were introduced to connect Tengah residents to transport hubs and amenities. Service 992, which started operations in September 2023, takes residents to Bukit Batok MRT station and bus interchange, and Le Quest mall. Service 870, introduced in November, goes to Jurong Town Hall bus interchange.
These routes will be extended as more residents move into Tengah, HDB said. For instance, when the Plantation Crescent road is fully opened, bus service 870 will stop opposite Plantation Village and service 992 will stop outside Plantation Grange.
HDB deputy chief executive of building Johnny Wong said amenities and major transport facilities will take some time to be built up. “This is unlike most other BTO developments, which are built within existing HDB towns, where there is already developed infrastructure, as well as existing amenities and facilities close by for residents’ use.”
The Tengah mobile grocery truck will be in Plantation Acres on Wednesdays and Fridays, and in Plantation Grange on Thursdays, from 3pm to 8pm.
The grocery truck will be in Plantation Acres on Wednesdays and Fridays, and in Plantation Grange on Thursdays, from 3pm to 8pm.
Tengah Mobile Grocery Truck
A mobile grocery will serve residents in Tengah three days a week as part of interim measures taken by the Housing Board to improve convenience while other amenities in the estate are being built.
Bread, canned food and toiletries are among the essential items residents can buy from the FairPrice grocery truck, which will be at the Plantation Acres neighbourhood on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Plantation Grange on Thursdays, from 3pm to 8pm.
It will operate until the second quarter of 2024, when the supermarket in the Plantation Plaza neighbourhood centre is expected to open, the HDB said on Dec 13.
The centre, located across the road from the two developments, will also have a foodcourt, clinic, shops and enrichment centres, which will open progressively.
Mr Rafiq Sumri, 29, who moved into his four-room flat in Plantation Acres in November 2023, said that while the FairPrice truck is a good initiative, he prefers to take a bus to Bukit Batok for grocery runs. “It’s about a 10-minute bus ride to Bukit Batok, where there’s a Sheng Siong (supermarket) with wider variety, as well as Le Quest shopping mall,” said the patient service associate.
Vending machines with hot food were installed by HDB in December 2023.
Vending machines with hot food were installed by HDB in December.
The mobile grocery is part of interim measures taken by HDB to improve convenience while other amenities in the estate are being built.
The mobile grocery is part of interim measures taken by HDB to improve convenience while other amenities in the estate are being built.
Tengah Food Vending Machine
Located at Block 111A Plantation Acres, vending machines with hot food such as nasi lemak were installed by HDB in December 2023.
Tiktok screengrab of the new Tengah HDB BTO estate at 111 Tengah Plantation (Tiktok user @cyinteriordesigner)
Tiktok screengrab of the new Tengah HDB BTO estate at 111 Tengah Plantation (Tiktok user @cyinteriordesigner)
Tengah BTO Plantation Grange
Administrative assistant Chan Si Hui has had no choice but to put off moving into her new flat in Tengah by almost four months, because of the town’s limited public transport options right now.
No bus stop until December 2023
Despite collecting the keys to her Plantation Grange flat on Aug 30, Ms Chan, 39, is renting another flat elsewhere with her elderly parents. She plans to move in only when a bus stop along Tengah Boulevard, which is closer to her flat, is slated to open in December.
As Ms Chan’s parents, both 75, will be living with her, Ms Chan was worried that the walk to the nearest bus stop – now 15 minutes away by foot – would be too arduous for them.
They would have to get around ongoing work on the Jurong Region MRT line to reach this bus stop at Block 111 in Plantation Acres. There, bus service 992 – one of two bus routes serving the first two Tengah precincts, Plantation Grange and Plantation Acres – takes residents to Bukit Batok MRT station and bus interchange.
Tengah BTO MRT
Currently inaccessible via public transport
Ms Chan is among dozens of residents of the new “forest” town who are lamenting the inaccessibility of public transport near their new homes. She was behind a survey, done between Sept 7 and Sept 17, 2023, that gathered feedback from her estate’s residents on the bus services.
The findings of the survey, which polled 59 residents, were submitted to Hong Kah North MP Amy Khor, as well as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Housing Board. Among other things, it found that some wanted a direct bus service to Jurong East.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, Dr Khor, who is also Senior Minister of State for Transport, said some infrastructural work, as well as accessibility in Tengah, might be “out of sync for a short while”.
HDB handed out keys prior to completion of the entire district
This is because HDB has been handing out keys progressively for completed blocks, instead of waiting for the completion of the entire precinct, owing to construction delays.
HDB told ST that the keys for about 295, or 12.6 per cent, of the 2,333 units in Plantation Acres and Plantation Grange have been collected as at Sept 26.
Dr Khor added: “As the roads in the area are also not completely done up and open, some of the bus stops... in the area will also be completed and open in stages to further improve accessibility.”
With the start of bus service 992 on Sept 24, 2023, a temporary shuttle bus service that previously connected Plantation Acres residents to Bukit Batok stopped on Sept 30.
15 minutes walk to nearest bus stop
Like Ms Chan, Mr Ken Quek, who is unemployed, noted that it takes him up to 15 minutes to walk from his flat at Block 133C Plantation Grange to the nearest bus stop.
He said he has to walk along Tengah Boulevard and Tengah Drive, instead of taking a direct route through the blocks.
Other residents lamented the lack of public transport options in the area as well.
Mr Chan Yuke Man, who moves into Plantation Grange at the end of December, said he would have to make two bus transfers to take his daughter to St Anthony’s Primary School in Bukit Gombak. The 58-year-old said they could walk to the school within that time.
Tengah Development
Residents will be connected to other areas in the coming months said LTA
Responding to ST’s queries, LTA said it plans to improve public transport connectivity for Tengah residents to other areas, including Jurong East, with the completion of more housing developments in the area. More details will be made public in the coming months, it said.
Meanwhile, HDB said it was aware of residents’ concerns but sought their understanding that it would take some time to build up amenities and infrastructure within the new Tengah town, unlike in most other Build-To-Order developments, which are in existing HDB towns.
It added that it has instructed contractors not to park along the roads or block the entrances and exits of housing developments, and is working with agencies to ensure the orderly and safe flow of construction vehicles.
Tengah Plantation Plaza Neighbourhood Centre
Operating from 2024
LTA and HDB added that they were working together to maintain a safe walking path for residents travelling to and from the nearest bus stops. Bus service 993, which serves another bus stop farther away along Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, operates to and from Jurong East interchange.
Before the Plantation Plaza Neighbourhood Centre starts operations from the second quarter of 2024, HDB said it would bring in temporary provisions such as vending machines offering hot food at the void deck of Block 111A in Plantation Acres. It will also work with a supermarket operator to deploy a mobile grocery truck service in Tengah by November or early December.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.