A SURPRISE CAMEO: TIB1215Z ON 172

[SG1201T Citaro]

As the day was drawing to a close, I was just mindlessly profiling buses at Boon Lay Interchange(cos why not?) when a surprise pulled up at Berth B1:

TIB1215Z, an O405G(Hispano Carrocera Habit), on 172

When was the last time an O405G was used on 172? When might it happen again? 172 used to utilize many O405Gs until the recent introduction of the MAN A95s, currently it runs a full fleet of MAN A22s, A95s, and Merceded Benz OC500LEs, with one or two MAN A24s appearing during the morning peak on split-shift basis. I jumped at this chance of a rare cameo of an old bendy on a route that no longer utilizes them on a regular basis and I just managed to board TIB1215Z, becoming the last passenger to do so. However, given the load factor, the bus was not very packed and I was able to claim the frontmost seat. Throughout the ride, the bus was observed to be moderately packed, most of which were workers from the Jalan Bahar area or military personnel heading in or out of the military installations along the route(Tengah Airbase, Keat Hong Camp, SAF Logistics Centre, Home Team Academy, SCDF Academy). Passing through the Choa Chu Kang residential areas, the bus steadily filled up with commuters heading towards Choa Chu Kang Interchange or MRT; however, the bus was only slightly more packed when it arrived at Choa Chu Kang Interchange than it was when it left Boon Lay. As I had spare time on my hands, I managed to obtain information that the O405G was to set off again for Boon Lay at 1841; thus, after alighting, I proceeded straight to the 172 berth to camp out for the O405G for its return journey.