Update: Sultan Ibrahim of Johor explains why he took the initiative to drive the last KTM train out of Singapore!
TRANSIT took note of more articles about the closure of Tg. Pagar railway station (and Bukit Timah – why does everyone forget Bukit Timah) and the effective withdrawal of KTM train service from Singapore.
On 30 June 2011, we invited our readers to share their memories of travel to/from Tg. Pagar and Bukit Timah railway stations.
A royal finish: The Sultan of Johor driving the last train out of the Tanjung Pagar station in Singapore as a passenger holds up a thank you card. Railway operations at the station ceased Thursday. - TEO YONG CHEANG / The Star
The last Kuala Lumpur-Singapore train, Ekspres Sinaran, which left KL Sentral at 9am, reached Tanjong Pagar at 6pm, while the last north-bound passenger train, Ekspres Senandung Sutera, departed Tanjong Pagar at 10pm.
You can also take a look at the following blog posts and articles (we will update as we get more)
JOHOR BARU: The last train out of Tanjong Pagar tonight will be Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s farewell to the 79-year-old railway station in Singapore.
A KTMB employee putting up a sign informing passengers about the switch from the Tanjong Pagar railway station to Woodlands in Singapore from tomorrow. — NST picture by Effendy Rashid TRANSIT: Why is the poster being put up now?
Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar will be in the driver’s seat of the symbolic train service that will depart the railway station about 11pm.
The last train service, Ekspres Senandung Malam, will depart at 10pm. From tomorrow, southbound trains will end their journey at Singapore’s Woodlands Train Checkpoint near the Johor border.
KTMB Tanjong Pagar station manager Shamsul Bahri Sahri, one of the 67 Singapore-based KTMB personnel going home, said the railway line, and the Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah (located between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands) stations in the republic were a repository of history.
“It would be a lie if I said that I would not be saddened by the handover of the Tanjong Pagar station on Friday,” said the 43-year-old, who served in Tanjong Pagar for 15 years.
Stanley Tan, a member of the Singapore-based KTM Railway Fan Club, said: “We hope to be part of the last train back to Johor as it will be a start to a new future.”
Tan, who chronicles the history of railways in Malaysia and Singapore, said his club was planning a small gathering to commemorate the occasion tonight.
The train service to Tanjong Pagar was introduced in 1932 as a trade link between vegetable and agricultural producers on the mainland and Singapore.
The 45-minute train ride from here to Singapore was a relaxing way to enter the republic.
It was an alternative to the traffic crawl on the Causeway.
Located in Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar was chosen as the site of the railway station to realise the British’s vision of creating an extensive transport network across land and sea at that time.
The last train out puts into effect a Malaysian-Singapore agreement that will see the development of KTMB land parcels in the republic by M-S Pte Ltd, a company owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.
TRANSIT Says:
Goodbye to Tg. Pagar and Bukit Timah railway stations and to KTM railway service in Singapore.
Transit Malaysia 