Bukit Timah Railway Station open to public from Sept 16
By Joanne Chan, Channel NewsAsia, 2 Sep 2011.
The old Bukit Timah Railway Station and surrounding railway land will be open to the public in two weeks.
Announcing this on Friday, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said the station and railway land extending 1.4km southwards from the steel bridge along Bukit Timah Road will be open from September 16.
The SLA said other portions of the railway land will also be progressively open after removal works are completed.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
Let’s work together to create a shared vision of The Green Corridor
We started this campaign on 5 Nov 2010 to support The Green Corridor proposal by the Nature Society (Singapore), and our aims were to:
- Gather support for The Green Corridor and unite supporters
- Show the government that there is public interest and support for The Green Corridor
- Archive stories, photos and videos on the railway and The Green Corridor
We supported the proposal because we feel that it would improve Singapore’s long-term resilience through creating more opportunities in preserving our shared memories and creating our shared vision.
On 1 Jul, URA announced that it “will comprehensively review and chart the development plans for the former railway lands and their surrounding areas. As part of its review, the URA will study the possibility of marrying development and greenery, such as applying innovative strategies to maintain a continuous green link along the rail corridor without affecting the development potential of the lands.” Read more
PM Lee Supports The Green Corridor
During last Sunday’s National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong cited The Green Corridor project as one example where Singaporeans are going beyond giving views and coming forward to work with one other and with the government on projects which matter to them and which are good for Singapore.
PM Lee mentioned that MND, URA and himself are very keen on this project. Here’s the excerpts from his speech:
13. Very encouraged that Singaporeans are going beyond giving views
a. Coming forward to work with each other and with the government on projects which they care about
14. e.g. creating a green spine along KTM railway line
a. URA carrying out extensive public consultation
b. Looking for creative ways of preserving green spaces without affecting development potential of the land
c. Many bright ideas, including from students, architects, design professionals
i. To use sections as creative arts and performing spaces
ii. To develop a leisure corridor, linked to our park connector network
d. One proposal from Ms Regina Koo, a recent Architecture graduate from NUS
i. To develop stretch in Yew Tee beside Pang Sua Canal
ii. Build a “Velo-Parkâ€, with bikeways, bike rental stalls, bike club and bike café
e. Look forward to many more good ideas
f. And hope when plans are settled, the interest groups will actively participate in implementing the projects
Watch the speech where PM Lee mentions The Green Corridor (the mention is from the middle of the video onwards).
Tracks cleared with maximum care for greenery, says SLA
Letter from SLA, The Straits Times, 11 Aug 2011.
Singapore must remove the railway tracks and ancillary structures along the former KTM railway line, and return them to Malaysia by the year end (‘Be careful when dismantling rail tracks’ by Ms Catherine Lim; last Thursday).
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has taken efforts to minimise the impact of these works on the vegetation. The SLA has also worked with the National Parks Board to identify the areas along the rail corridor that are rich in biodiversity and ensure that these are not inadvertently cleared as the tracks are removed.
Source: The Straits Times
Track and fields
By Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper, 16 Aug 2011.
Looking at these pictures, you might be wondering: “I thought the Tanjong Pagar railway track is already closed to the public?”
Well, this is the lesser-known Jurong Line, which was completed in 1965.
Back then, the railway track served as an extension into the newly-constructed Jurong Industrial Estate.
But due to inadequate traffic, it has been abandoned since the late 1980s.
The partially-dismantled track emerges from the Clementi Woodlands at Sunset Way, crossing the Ulu Pandan Canal via the much-photographed cast iron bridge.
The New Paper on Sunday explored the area with Mr Leong Kwok Peng, vice-president of Nature Society Singapore (NSS) and acting chairman of the NSS conservation committee.
Source: The New Paper via Wildsingapore
Be careful when dismantling rail tracks
Letter by Catherine Lim, The Straits Times, 4 Aug 2011.
I am writing to call for more supervision and sensitivity in dismantling the tracks and other movable parts in the rail corridor. I was confronted at the end of a very pleasant last walk from the Rail Mall to Bukit Timah by a scene of bare-faced destruction. The bulldozers had been sent in, and the greenery beyond the station suffered unnecessary collateral damage.
It was not what I expected, especially after an update from Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, in which he said the intention was to try to keep the corridor as a continuous stretch with greenery (‘Govt hopes to keep continuous rail corridor’; last Thursday). A consultation group was to meet regularly to discuss public suggestions on plans for the corridor, he added.
Source: The Straits Times
Request To Minimise Impacts Of Railway Removal And Turfing Works
[This email was sent to SLA on 1 Aug 2011 – vincent_hoong@sla.gov.sg, simon_ong@sla.gov.sg, lee_seng_lai@sla.gov.sg. If you feel that the removal and turfing works are too excessive and disruptive to nature and the unique landscape of the railway lands, pls voice your concerns to SLA.]
Mr Vincent Hoong Seng Lei
Chief Executive
Singapore Land Authority
cc: Simon Ong Hung Eng, Dy Chief Executive
Lee Seng Lai, Director, Land Operations (Private)
Request To Minimise Impacts Of Railway Removal And Turfing Works
Dear Mr Hoong
I refer to the current works on the railway tracks and structures, and the recent media replies by SLA on minimising the impacts of the works and access routes.
2. Unfortunately, the current removal and turfing works by the contractors along some parts of the railway lands, especially from Bukit Timah to Holland Road, are too excessive and disruptive to nature and the unique landscape of the railway lands.
3. I would like to request that SLA closely supervise the contractor and sub-contractors involved in the removal and turfing works, in order to reduce the impacts of the works, minimise destruction of nature and vegetation, and prevent excessive alteration to the unique landscape of the railway lands.
4. For your necessary and urgent action, please. Thank you.
Yours Sincerely
Eugene Tay
A Concerned Citizen
http://www.thegreencorridor.org
Development plans for railway under review
Letter from Lee Seng Lai Director Land Operations (Private) Division Singapore Land Authority and Tan See Nin Director (Physical Planning) Urban Redevelopment Authority, TODAY, 29 Jul 2011.
We refer to the letter from Mr Liew Kai Khiun, “A temporary park connector?” (July 21)
As agreed with Malaysia, Singapore has to remove the railway tracks and ancillary structures along the former KTM railway line, and hand them over to Malaysia by Dec 31.
This is a very tight timeline, given the extensive work required: The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has to remove 26km of railway tracks in five months. The SLA started removal works on July 18.
Source: TODAY
Govt hopes to keep continuous rail corridor
By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 28 Jul 2011.
The Government hopes to keep the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway land a continuous stretch as far as possible, said Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin in a meeting with the media yesterday.
Plans for the tract will be firmed up over the next two years, and details will be included in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) 2013 land-use Master Plan, he added.
Referring to the 26km tract which stretches from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands, he said: ‘I imagine there are stretches which we will keep, some we would develop in a way that makes sense, but the idea of it as a continuous stretch is something we would very much like to do.
‘It’s about keeping the spirit of it as much as the physical.’
Source: The Straits Times
Help for 50 felines left at Tanjong Pagar train station
By Rachel Chan, my paper, 28 Jul 2011.
Few know this, but some 50 occupants still live inside the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and other former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) premises nearby.
They are cats previously owned by railway workers and tenants, who left them behind when the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) sealed the station’s entrance at midnight on June 30.
Most of them skulk in the nooks and crannies of the huge compound, deprived of human contact.
Thankfully, they have not been forgotten. A small band of cat feeders took notice of them and wrote to the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) last month.
Source: my paper via AsiaOne
