Questions about transit in Singapore

Greetings from Singapore to all fellow members, thanks for sparing your time to read my post! I am currently visiting Singapore for one week, and I am  interested in transit-spotting for a couple of days before I have to leave for Hong Kong on July 17th. Thus far, I had a bit of taste of SBS and SMRT actions outside Haoguang Central and Yishun Central Interchange.............however, there are some buses which I hope to find before I leave Singapore, hopefully some of you may be able to provide some tips and hints. Any assistance will all be sincerely appreciated!

1.) I understand the SMRT Mercedes Citaro SMB136C is assigned to route 855 which serves between Harbourfront and Yishun. I have been trying to locate this bus both today and yesterday with no results. Anyone might happen to know about the latest status of this vehicle? (Whether the bus is inactive for inspections / grounded due to maintenance issues / assigned to another route?) If this bus is supposed to be active under normal conditions, anyone might be able to provide some timing points, assuming it's assigned to the same piece of work / schedule everyday on route 855? Does SMB136C usually serve as midruns (am-pm) or rush hour trippers (am rush hours / pm rush hours only)?

2.) I am also highly interested in finding SBS7888K, which seems to run exclusively on route 133. Does this bus usually serve as midrun or tripper? Anyone might be able to provide some timing points? I recall member "iczer3" mentioned in one of the recent posts related to this vehicle, that this bus is always on "shift 902" these days............is it possible that someone might be able to discuss more details about this "shift 902", which I assume it's the regular assignment for this bus?

3.) Aside from those two buses mentioned in my previous questions, I am interested in SBS9889U, SBS1688K and SBS8030L as well. I know they are assigned to route 166, 163 and 174 respectively. After all, are they hard to find? Timing points will be appreciated.........although, this list belongs to my "secondary priorities". If I find them, awesome........if I don't, not a huge deal. =)

3.) If anyone's interested in transit-fanning together before I leave on the 17th, please do send me a PM and we can work out the details!

Thank you for taking your time to read through my questions. I know my style of questions are very specific into internal details........hopefully they are fair! Since I am only here for less than a week, this is my first visit to Singapore and there's an overwhelming amount of things to see (which applies to both the transit system and the tourist attractions in the city), timing is critical and I want to see / photograph / ride everything in a relatively restricted amount of time!

OT: If anyone can suggest good places for Teh Tarik, I will definitely appreciate that too!

Cheers,

Dave

As I know that SBS8030L is very easy to find due to this bus is the full day (AM/PM) bus on route 174, you may try to find it in Orchard Rd area, New Bridge Rd Terminal or Boon Lay Interchange~~

原帖由 NewFlyer 於 2010-7-12 22:39 發表
Greetings from Singapore to all fellow members, thanks for sparing your time to read my post! I am currently visiting Singapore for one week, and I am  interested in transit-spotting for a couple of d ...

1) SMB136C according to my own knowledge is under inspection for a few days. The bus isn't seen on service 855 this morning. Service 855 runs on a schedule that has 9 fullday slots and 4 split shift slots. Every week the bus will rotate one fullday slot, permanent under a pair of drivers. E.g. if the bus is on 855-01 this week it will do 855-02 next week and so on until it reaches block 855-09 and then jump back to 855-01. For the split shift blocks 855-10, 855-11, 855-12 and 855-13, SMB136C will operate on these slots during the permanent drivers' off duty days, which vary with the fullday blocks the bus is assigned to every week, under a permanent split shift driver. It should not be too hard to spot the bus on fullday slot if you wait at somewhere along the middle of the route (Macritchie Reservoir is a nice suggestion).

2) SBS7888K is currently permanent on service 133 block se-902. The number 902 is a run number indicative of the despatch order and the first digit "9" indicates it is a bus slot for Aircon Double Deck (ADD). As far as I know now the bus is currently doing training for service 25 drivers hence the slot it appears on service 133 might be any random slot as assigned by the starter's office. Nonetheless it should also not be too hard to spot the bus if you wait at somewhere along the middle of the route as the timings for se-902 are fullday timings.

Here are the complete set of timings for SBS7888K's scheduled slot on service 133 during Mondays-Thursdays:
Downroute from (02061) The Esplanade @ 0616 hrs
Departs AMK Int @ 0719 hrs, 1017 hrs, 1258 hrs, 1545 hrs, 1840 hrs & 2143 hrs
Departs Shenton Way Ter @ 0854 hrs, 1137 hrs, 1424 hrs, 1714 hrs, 2020 hrs & 2300 hrs

[ 本帖最後由 TIB1232Z 於 2010-7-13 17:24 編輯 ]

To both gentlemen who responded: Thank you very much for all the tips and hints, I really appreciate the information generously provided! =)

I managed to chat with a friendly SMRT "bus captain" this morning at Yishun Central, and he claimed SMB136C is currently parked in the maintenance workshop due to a cracked window. Whether the bus is grounded or held for inspection, I sure hope this bus will see service before I leave on July 17th!

Cheers,

Dave