Rail Corridor is now accessible to the public [Press Release]
9 January 2012 – The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has completed removal works along the former railway land. The railway tracks and ancillary structures were handed over to Malaysia on schedule by 31 December 2011, as agreed. The land has been levelled and turfed.
2. From today onwards, the public can enjoy free access to the Rail Corridor, with the exception of three sites along the Rail Corridor and the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (TPRS).
Three new community use sites
3. Following the opening of the former Bukit Timah Railway Station and railway land extending 1.4km southwards from the steel bridge along Bukit Timah Road to the public on 16 September 2011, SLA has identified three sites along the Rail Corridor and adjacent vacant state land for interim community use. These sites are near Jalan Hang Jebat, Ghim Moh Road and Kampong Bahru Flyover. Maps showing the locations of the community use sites are at Annex A.
4. SLA is carrying out improvement works at these sites, which have been cordoned off for safety reasons. The sites will be progressively opened for interim community use from April 2012. The public will be able to enjoy free access to these sites for recreational activities with no advance booking required. These sites will be available until the long term development plans for the Rail Corridor and its immediate surroundings have been determined. More information on community use sites can be found on http://www.sla.gov.sg/htm/ser/ser0208.htm.
Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
5. TPRS will remain closed at this time to enable SLA to carry out maintenance works and structural inspection. Information on its re-opening will be provided to the public in due course.
6. The public are advised to exercise caution and be responsible for their own safety when accessing the Rail Corridor. They are also reminded not to litter or deface the railway structures.
Development plans for the Rail Corridor
7. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is undertaking a comprehensive review of development plans for the former railway land and their surrounding areas. As part of its review, URA will study the proposal to maintain a continuous green link along the Rail Corridor while balancing the need for development. The public is welcome to provide suggestions and ideas on the future use of the Rail Corridor to enhance our living environment. For more information, please log onto http://www.ura.gov.sg/railcorridor.
Source: SLA
Rail Corridor re-opens for public use from Monday
By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 9 Jan 2012.
The Rail Corridor – the snaking, 26km tract of former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway land – is open to the public from Monday, with the exception of four areas.
For the past half-year, the authorities had been removing old railway tracks and equipment as well as levelling and turfing over the land parcel, which runs from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands.
Source: The Straits Times
Final pieces of KTM track removed
By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 1 Jan 2012.
The last of the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway tracks have been dismantled and sent home to Malaysia, capping off a year in which the Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar railroad stretch was decommissioned in a landmark land swop.
The 26km tract from Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar was returned to Singapore last July as agreed with Malaysia, in exchange for land parcels in Marina South and Ophir-Rochor.
In the weeks after the train service to Woodlands ceased, thousands of recreational explorers and shutterbugs thronged the tracks, hoping to capture a slice of history.
Trains had run from Tanjong Pagar since 1932, and continue to run north from Woodlands.
Removal works started in July. Small structures, railway tracks, sleepers, ballast, cables, gates, posts and debris were removed.
Source: The Straits Times via Wildsingapore
Campaign for a green corridor
By Teo Wan Gek and Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 30 Dec 2011.
Alarm bells rang in Nature Society (Singapore) vice-president Leong Kwok Peng’s head when he read a front-page report in The Straits Times announcing the relocation of Tanjong Pagar railway station to Woodlands.
That was on May 25 last year.
Mr Leong, 55, says the Nature Society had for years hoped to preserve the nature belt along the railway tracks.
With the railway land reverting to Singapore, future developments might encroach into the pockets of nature or break up the continuous stretch of greenery.
Mr Leong got to work. He wrote to The Straits Times Forum to propose a green corridor be preserved, and ended up spearheading the Nature Society’s campaign on the matter.
Source: The Straits Times via Wildsingapore
Good Work on The Green Corridor by UWCSEA Students
On Monday 5th December 2011, 200 Grade 8 students from United World College of South East Asia, Dover Campus, Singapore, walked the Green Corridor from Bukit Timah Rail Mall to Ghim Moh.
It was a great day out for everyone involved. The students loved having the opportunity to do something active in their local environment and it also helped them appreciate the importance of preserving green spaces in Singapore.
When the students returned to school they worked on a publicity campaign for the Green Corridor to raise awareness for this good cause. They created some really good work including posters, brochures, TV and radio adverts. Please see the winning entries below. Read more
Why Supporters of The Green Corridor Should Support Bukit Brown Too
The Green Corridor is a former railway while Bukit Brown is a cemetery, so different yet so similar. The Green Corridor and Bukit Brown both connects the past and future, and both involves heritage and the environment. I hope that all of you can support the preservation of Bukit Brown, just as you have actively supported The Green Corridor so far.
I supported The Green Corridor proposal by NSS because I feel that it would improve Singapore’s long-term resilience. The biggest threat to Singapore is apathy, and when Singaporeans do not feel a sense of belonging and are not bothered with what goes on here, then Singapore is in trouble.
For Singapore to survive and prosper in the long term, it is necessary to have more opportunities in preserving our shared memories and creating our shared vision. And keeping the railway lands as a Green Corridor is one opportunity not to be wasted.
Similarly, I feel that Bukit Brown is another excellent opportunity that enables Singaporeans to feel they belong here by remembering our past and creating our future. Read more
“Journey of Possibilities” – Ideas Competition for the Rail Corridor
Press Release by URA, 30 Nov 2011.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today the launch of an Ideas Competition titled “Journey of Possibilities†for the Rail Corridor. The Ideas Competition is intended to draw innovative and fresh new ideas from the public in addressing some of the key challenges and issues in planning for the future use of the Rail Corridor.
Since the return of the former railway land to Singapore on 1 July 2011, the Rail Corridor project has garnered widespread public interest. From the feedback we received, it is clear that there are many more people out there who would like to make tangible contributions towards the envisioning of the Rail Corridor’s future. In order to create the window of opportunity for all to participate in this project, the URA is conducting the Ideas Competition from 30 November 2011 to 9 March 2012. Read more
Re-Imagining the Rail Corridor – Traveling Exhibition
The Re-imagining The Rail Corridor exhibition showcases some early ideas from students and design professionals for what the future of the Rail Corridor could become, in a bid to anchor Singaporeans with a stake in their surroundings and to build-up engagement with the public in jointly designing the spaces around us.
The exhibition will travel to the following locations:
6 Dec – 30 Dec 2011
Singapore Botanic Gardens (Function Hall of Botany Centre, near the gate opposite Gleneagles Hospital). Opening hours from 8:30am to 6pm.
1 Jan – 12 Feb 2012
Marina Barrage (2nd Storey outside the entrance to the Sustainable Singapore Gallery)
14 Feb – 7 Mar 2012
HortPark (Exhibition Gallery)
9 Mar – 25 Mar 2012
University Cultural Centre (NUS, exact location inside to be confirmed)
Stripping of KTM railway track completed
By Channel NewsAsia, 31 Oct 2011.
The stripping of the 23-kilometre KTM railway track from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands has been completed following the handover of the KTM land and the Tanjong Pagar railway station to Singapore this year, Malaysia media reported.
Dr Aminuddin Adnan, KTMB President, said the tracks weighed a total 2,500 tonnes, out of which about seventy percent have been transported back to Malaysia.
The rest, which was still being placed at a temporary storage area in Kranji, will be sent back to the country by the middle of next month.
The Malaysian press has also reported that part of the track would be showcased in KTMB museums as a historical exhibit while others will be kept for future use on KTMB tracks throughout the country.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
Walk down KTM memory lane at Rail Corridor
By Channel NewsAsia, 3 Oct 2011.
An exhibition that explores several ideas on how different pockets of space at the former Malaysian railway land can be used was held on Monday.
The initiative is part of a series of events dedicated to increasing public awareness of the tract of KTM railway land returned to Singapore.
Called “Re-Imagining the Rail Corridor” the exhibition showcased some preliminary ideas from architecture and landscape students as well as design professionals.
Minister of State for National Development Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin, who chairs the Rail Corridor Consultation Group, said he hopes the final design will incorporate all ideas that the Urban Redevelopment Authority has been receiving.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
