Share
KUALA LUMPUR: The Singapore government will be gazetting the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station as a national monument and the Bukit Timah Railway Station as a conserved building, said the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Singapore and Malaysia had both announced on May 24, 2010 that the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) station would be relocated from Tanjong Pagar to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint (WTCP) by July 1, 2011 and agreed that the latter station be conserved with the Bukit Timah Railway Station building at Blackmore Drive.
Both the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the Bukit Timah Railway Station will cease to operate as KTMB railway facilities with their relocation to WTCP from July 1, 2011.
Completed in the early 1930s, the KTMB railway line was a vital mode of transport between Singapore, mainland Malaya and Thailand following the Causeway’s opening in 1924. The KTMB played a role in Singapore’s economic development, enabling the transport of key commodities such as tin and rubber from across the Malayan Peninsular for export internationally.
The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station that was a terminus for the railway line has a facade influenced by both the Neo-Classical and Art-Deco schools of architecture. Four statues representing the four economic pillars that contributed to Malaya’s wealth – commerce, agriculture, transport and industry, front it.
The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station had a 72-foot high barrel-vault roof over the central waiting hall and the large tiled wall murals depicting scenes from Malaya.
The Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB) director, Jean Wee said before the Causeway linking Singapore to Malaysia, the KTMB railway established itself as the only means of locomotive transportation between the two countries for nearly 80 years.
“The gazette of the railway line’s terminus, the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, recognises the uniqueness of the structure and its existence as the key operational railway station in Singapore. It will continue to be a landmark even in its adaptive re-use, to reflect the nature and strength of ties between both countries as well as amongst its people,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Bukit Timah Railway Station near King Albert’s Park was one of the smaller stations built to serve the suburban parts of Singapore.
The simple brick building with an open sided waiting hall is a single-storey building which follows the style of the traditional small town stations that were common in the United Kingdom and Malaya in the 1930s.
Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).Group Director (Conservation & Development Services), Ler Seng Ann said the key buildings and structures relating to Singapore’s role as a transport hub form part of the collective social memory of Singaporeans.
"Once the key historic structures for rail travel are conserved, it will complete the story of our transport history,” he said.
The URA’s Conservation Programme was set up to keep these physical reminders of Singapore’s built heritage and has already conserved the Clifford Pier and the former Kallang Airport which were Singapore’s historic gateways for sea and international air travel respectively in their heydays.
