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  The Straits Times, 18 Jul 05
Bus 925 now plies Kranji farm area
By Lim Wei Chean

SMRT service has been extended to make countryside more accessible to visitors

THE Kranji countryside is now accessible by bus, thanks to the extension of SMRT's 925 service. The service - which runs from Woodlands to Kranji and the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on Sundays and public holidays - has been extended to cover Neo Tiew Crescent, Neo Tiew Road and Lim Chu Kang Road, making a loop at Lim Chu Kang Lane 3.

There are 114 fruit, vegetable, decorative plant, dairy and fish farms in the Kranji area and, until now, they were accessible only by car or taxi. Visitors can tour the farms and buy produce. There are also restaurants on some of the farms that serve their own fresh produce.

The 925 service runs at 45-minute intervals, with the first bus departing from Woodlands Regional Interchange at 6.30am and the last bus leaving Lim Chu Kang Road at 7.10pm.

Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, president of the Kranji Countryside Association, said: 'I'm delighted with the new service and hope it will bring more life to the farms here.'

The association, formed by 10 farmers to promote the Kranji area as a recreational and educational venue, began discussions with SMRT on buses for the area after 18,000 visitors attended its five-day spring carnival in January. The farmers had arranged for private shuttle buses to pick passengers from Boon Lay and Kranji MRT stations.

Response had been overwhelming. SMRT director of buses Morris Piper said: 'This is a trial service and we will monitor the response over the next three months. If the demand is high, we will consider running the extended service on Saturdays too.'

Southwest Community Development Council Mayor Amy Khor, who launched the service yesterday, said: 'Singapore's landscape is highly urbanised, so few realise that we, too, have a countryside and farms. 'It is always a nice and rare treat to visit Kranji, and I hope that the new service will bring greater awareness to the public of our gem of a countryside.'

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