I could only remember 1224Y first time when I sat it somewhere
2003 on 188. After which it was all along on 188 until 189 started
introducing bendies in early 2006. Slightly before that period it
had been spare bus. It should have been under KJDEP all the while,
lest my memories are not to accurate.
[Warning: Slightly off topic, do not continue if you are
bounded by time]
Although not first deployment, but as I could remember, ex-KJDEP
buses of service 989 were 432U, 436J and 479K which were
transferred to other depots after the service was withdrawn, while
the others stayed in KJDEP and 'helped' out other services.
As memories held, 475X went to 189 after which to 67, 492X and 547Y
went to 188, 493T went to 176, although info on sgwiki indicated 61
first, 520Z went immediately to 189 and stayed ever since, 521X,
537B, 539X, 611U and 800R went to 106 and stayed there as well.
543H went to 190, 591T went to 925 first, then spare and now
serving multiple roles as shuttle and regular buses. 600B and 608E
went over to 67, 605M served 189 for quite a while before going
over to 176. 792E, which was seen many times on 989, cannot be
confirmed as a perm and so is left out of this picture. Hino, DAF
and Volgren Merc were some of those which also served on the route
as cameos.
And for those interested, there was actually a Habit 'serving' on
989 on the first day! Although the exact details whether it entered
Changi International PTB or even ran the entire route is still
sketchy, the rego can be certain and still can be found on the TIBS
news magazine in the National Library.
The bus is TIB1133B (KJ
106)
Have fun!
