Bus service 118 started on 20 December 2015, connecting Punggol Bus Interchange with Changi Business Park through Tampines. It was introduced by SBS Transit as part of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme.
Punggol bus 118’s history includes a second opening on the same day: the new Changi Business Park Bus Terminal began operating. The route therefore connected an established Punggol transport hub with a newly opened eastern terminal.
Another important bus 118 milestone is 4 September 2016, when operation transferred to Go-Ahead. That was an operator change, not the route’s first day. The December 2015 launch remains the starting point for this Punggol transport history.
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Why the route was introduced · A daily service alongside earlier premium buses · The 2016 handover and later changes
The original SBS Transit announcement described connections for Punggol West and Tampines West, including developing housing estates. It highlighted Temasek Polytechnic, ITE College East and Changi General Hospital.
For Punggol residents, this meant an eastern corridor that linked homes with education, healthcare and employment destinations. The geographical purpose matters as much as the service number: the bus connected different everyday journeys along one route.
Land Transport Guru’s service history notes that Premium Services 593 and 744 had already linked Punggol and Changi Business Park during peak hours. Service 118 added a lower-cost alternative rather than creating the first conceivable connection between those places.
Its route also called at the TPE bus stops near Punggol Road, allowing transfers to other expressway-corridor services. This gave the route a second role beyond journeys between its two endpoints.
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The chronology records SBS Transit operation through 3 September 2016 and Go-Ahead operation from the following day. New Tampines Avenue 5 stops followed on 23 October 2016.
A 21 October 2017 amendment changed the Changi-side routing, and an additional stop outside Punggol Station/Interchange was recorded on 26 November 2017. Launch, operator handover and street-level amendment are different events.
Read this history alongside the other transport entries in the Punggol history directory. The dates explain remembered journeys without assuming that an old map is a present-day timetable.
