Singapore Railway Station

All pictures taken on 2/Nov/2002 and 3/Nov/2002. I visited Singapore on this days. My friend, Kumaran, from Singapore showed me the Tanjung Pagar Rail Yard and the Tanjung Pagar Railway Station. The Tanjung Pagar Railway Station is a very beautiful building which needs to be preserved and not demolished just because of political reasons. On my next trip, I plan to explore Bukit Timah Railway Station which is in between this Woodlands Checkpoint and this station. Click here for a KTMB Intercity map to see where this station is.

Before the causeway was built , the railway in Singapore was a pure island railway because it was not connected to Johor Bahru. The construction of the Johor-Singapore Causeway across the Johor Straits began in 1919 and was opened to goods trains on September 17th, 1923 and to passenger trains on October 1st, 1923. Previously passengers and goods train were transferred at Woodlands to a ferry and the connecting train on the Peninsular Malaysia.
The railway station building at Keppel Road was completed in 1932 and contains a very fine Central Waiting Hall with a dome roof. The walls are paneled with typical Malaysian scenes, such as paddy (rice) planting, rubber tapping, shipping activities, road (bullock) transporting, coconut (copra) growing and tin mining. These panels and the original floor blocks were specially manufactured locally, using rubber product, designed successfully to deaden noise. The two long station platforms are capable of accommodating the longest mail trains and are covered by umbrella reinforced concrete roofs.
According to one of my friends in Singapore, it seems that it is under threat of demolition by the Singapore Government because the land the station is situated is very valuable. Singapore has built a new immigration check point at Woodlands which is closer to the causeway. Singapore is trying to stop the train from continuing to Tanjung Pagar because according to some contract many years ago, if the train stops going to Tanjung Pagar Railway Station the land goes back to Singapore.

Currently if you're entering Singapore from Malaysia, Malaysian Immigration does they're job onboard at Johor Bahru. Then, you will have to stop at the Woodlands Immigration Checkpoint for Singaporean customs and immigration clearance. Don't forget to bring your baggage along. You can leave or continue to the next railway station. I suggest you should continue so that you can look for yourself the beauty of Tanjung Pagar Railway Station. When you are entering Malaysia through Singapore, you must board the train at the Tanjung Pagar Railway Station for Malaysian Customs and Immigrations clearance. The train will stop again at Woodlands Immigration Checkpoint but this time you don't have to bring your baggage along.