New bus service 230M linking Kim Keat and Toa Payoh Bus Interchange to start on June 8
From June 8, Toa Payoh residents living in Kim Keat estate will be able to travel directly to Toa Payoh Bus Interchange on a new supplementary bus service.
Service 230M will operate from Toa Payoh Bus Interchange, ply Lorong 6 Toa Payoh and Toa Payoh East, before looping at Kim Keat Avenue and returning to the interchange.
Operating from 6.30am to 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends and public holidays, the new service is a variant of service 230 and takes commuters from Kim Keat to the Toa Payoh interchange directly. It is a shorter route serving 10 selected bus stops along the Service 230 route.
Service 230 serves only bus stops close to Toa Payoh HDB Hub and no longer stops at the interchange after a recent route revision.
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Saktiandi Supaat, who oversees Toa Payoh East area, told The Straits Times on May 19 that he had received feedback from some residents who wanted a direct service from Kim Keat to Toa Payoh Interchange, instead of merely the bus stops outside Toa Payoh HDB Hub.
He noted that service 230M would let residents access Toa Payoh HDB Hub and Toa Payoh Interchange without crossing the road or taking the underpass.
As the new supplementary bus service does not ply Lorong 7 Toa Payoh and Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, Mr Saktiandi said some residents may enjoy the shorter commute to and from Toa Payoh Interchange.
Introduced in September 2023, service 230 is a loop service that originally served 12 bus stops along Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, Toa Payoh East, Kim Keat Avenue as well as Toa Payoh Interchange.
Its route was extended and amended in January under the Land Transport Authority's Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), so the service now starts and ends at Caldecott MRT station - an interchange station on the Thomson-East Coast Line and Circle Line.
Following the amendment, service 230 covers more stops in Lorong 7 Toa Payoh and Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, and no longer serves Toa Payoh Interchange.
Launched in July 2024, BCEP is a $900 million initiative to improve public bus connectivity for residents of new housing projects.
Service 230M, which will be run by public transport operator SBS Transit, was one of the new bus services announced in April under the BCEP.
He added that they will also have an alternative bus service to take if they want to get to Toa Payoh Polyclinic, Pei Chun Public School and Kim Keat Palm Market and Food Centre.
"Residents in the wider Toa Payoh East area, not just those in Kim Keat, will have access to both Caldecott MRT station and Toa Payoh interchange," said Mr Saktiandi, adding that both 230 and 230M services will benefit residents beyond those in the newer Build-To-Order (BTO) estates, including Kim Keat Beacon.
Residents interviewed by ST welcomed the new service, with most saying that having another bus service is always beneficial.
Mr Lim Jin Xing, 35, a Kim Keat resident of over three decades who will be moving into the new BTO estate Kim Keat Ripples, said the reintroduction of a bus service that takes people to and from Toa Payoh interchange will alleviate the overcrowding on buses during the morning peak hour.
As the software engineer frequently commutes to Toa Payoh HDB Hub for meals and Toa Payoh interchange to get to work, he said he was happy when the launch of the parent service 230 was announced as the other available bus service - 238, which begins its route at Toa Payoh interchange - is often crowded.
When the route of service 230 was amended in early 2025 to exclude Toa Payoh interchange, Mr Lim said residents living in the area were affected, although he was not personally inconvenienced.
He is glad that there will now be more buses connecting Toa Payoh interchange to Kim Keat Avenue.
Ms Karen Siow, 62, echoed this, adding that it is good that the new bus service will remove the need to walk from the bus stop near Toa Payoh interchange, which is tiring for elderly persons with mobility issues.
The procurement executive said she takes service 230 to Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, before alighting and getting onto another bus that can take her to Toa Payoh Interchange.
So she was happy to find out that service 230M will stop at Toa Payoh Interchange, and said it was "much needed".
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