S’pore, KL ink details of land swop deal
By Teo Cheng Wee, The Straits Times, 28 Jun 2011.
PUTRAJAYA: A 20-year wrangle over Malayan railway land that had dogged ties between Singapore and Malaysia came to a close yesterday, after both sides put pen to paper and agreed on the implementation details of a landmark land swop.
Hailed as a deal that would take the relationship between the neighbours to a new level, the so-called Written Instrument was signed by Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam and Malaysia’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nor Mohamed Yakcop.
Indeed, among the major components of the deal is a rapid transit system (RTS) link that will allow for speedy commutes between Johor Baru and Singapore.
Source: The Straits Times
Crowds come out for KTM line’s final days
By Rachel Chan, mypaper, 27 Jun 11.
Passengers have been packing the trains from Singapore to Johor Baru, while foodies have thronged the food stalls in Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.
Less than a week before the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) trains cease operations from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, Singaporeans are turning out in droves to visit the Malayan Railway lands here.
Passengers have been packing the trains from Singapore to Johor Baru, while foodies have thronged the food stalls in Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.
And yesterday, more than 100 people embarked on one last weekend stroll along the railway tracks in Upper Bukit Timah Road. The group started the 3km walk from the truss bridge in Upper Bukit Timah Road at 8am, moving on to highlights such as the girder bridge in Hillview Avenue, the gated level crossing and KTM staff huts in Gombak Drive, before ending at the level crossing in Choa Chu Kang Road.
Source: mypaper via Wildsingapore
End of the line for KTM station hawkers
By Fiona Low, The Straits Times, 24 Jun 2011.
Last call for those who enjoy the teh tarik or chapati served by the stalls at the railway station in Tanjong Pagar.
By Sunday, most will be gone, ahead of the closure of the 79-year-old station at the end of this month.
Many stallholders there told The Straits Times they are still unsure what they will do next or where else they can set up shop.
A new chapter in the history of rail travel here opens on July 1, with the move by Malayan Railway (KTM) to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, and Singapore taking over ownership of the railway land following a breakthrough land swop with Malaysia last year.
Source: The Straits Times
Tanjong Pagar railway station to go in style
By Zakir Hussain and Amresh Gunasingham, The Straits Times, 23 Jun 2011.
The last Malayan Railway (KTM) train will pull out of Tanjong Pagar station a week from today, with as much fanfare as when the first train rumbled in almost 80 years ago.
At the controls will be Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who obtained his locomotive driving licence last year, KTM and palace officials said yesterday.
The scheduled 10pm departure from Tanjong Pagar will be marked by a KTM-organised send-off party attended by officials, guests and station staff, among others.
At midnight, Singapore will take ownership of the station – which opened in 1932 – following a breakthrough agreement with Malaysia last year.
KTM will then move its operations in Singapore to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, where it will open a ticketing counter on July 1.
Source: The Straits Times
Brisk ticket sales before final train leaves KTM station
By Hoe Yeen Nie, TODAY, 23 Jun 2011.
As the day of the last KTM train pulling out of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station draws near, sales of tickets for Malaysia-bound trains departing from the station have been brisk.
At the station yesterday, all the seats for the 8am and 1pm trains were sold out and tickets for today were reportedly gone within half an hour.
Said Mr Teo Juay Tee, who was among the lucky ones to secure a ticket: “I came four times to try to get one and, on the fourth try, I got lucky. I’m already 27-years- old and I’ve never taken the train before, that’s why I’m here to try it out.”
Source: TODAY
Not scrap metal, but a bridge to the past
Letter to TODAY by Liew Kai Khiun, 22 Jun 2011.
For the past fortnight, along with Singaporeans from all walks of life, I have been joining the walks along the Malayan Railway tracks organised by the “We support the Green Corridor” group, comprising conservationists and nature experts who are promoting awareness of the need to conserve the line between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands as a green lung, after it ceases operation at the end of the month.
Aside from the stretches of lush greenery along the train line, many visitors have been tremendously fascinated by the engineering structures. These include the levers in the control room of the Bukit Timah Station, the train tracks and the cast-iron Truss bridges on Dunearn Road and Railway Mall on the main line, and the smaller counterparts at Sungei Ulu Pandan and Sunset Way along the defunct Jurong-Bukit Timah line.
Source: TODAY
NSS’s Letter for a 6 month moratorium
Ref: SLA’s Tender for Removal and Storage of Railway including ancillary structures from Woodlands Train Checkpoint to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, which was awarded on 2 Jun 2011.
Nature Society (Singapore) has already send letters to the relevant authorities to seek a 6 month moratorium commencing 1 July 2011 for the above work.
NSS asked that any dismantling works of the KTM tracks and ancillary structures be deferred during these 6 months except for reasons of safety.
NSS requested that the public be allowed to venture and explore the entire railway land and suggested that the authority should take the opportunity during this 6 months moratorium to garner feedbacks and conduct consultations to find out how the public would like the railway land to be used.
As the Singaporean public has been kept out of the KTM railway land for decades during the tenure of KTM, NSS thinks that this would be a once in a lifetime chance for the public to see the railway land as it is with its railway tracks, structures, bridges etc all intact.
Organised walk can be conducted by local or even KTM staff on the railway.
This would make for a fabulous and educational trip on our shared heritage as the railway has been a historical landmark of Singapore.
The railway has been with us for many decades – relatively an additional six months is a very short amount of time.
Source: NSS
Government in talks on ‘green corridor’
By Grace Chua, Straits Times, 16 Jun 2011.
The Minister of State for National Development has sounded what green groups have read as a positive note on the fate of the island’s north-south strip of railway land.
Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan Jin indicated in a Facebook post that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board have been in talks with the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) over several interest groups’ proposal to turn the land into a continuous strip of recreational space.
The 173.7ha tract of land, which now belongs to Malaysia’s Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), reverts to Singapore on July 1. About 40km of railway now sit on it – 26km from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands, and at least a further 14km of disused line from Clementi to Jurong.
Source: The Straits Times via Wildsingapore
Pockets of solitude, places to retreat to in Green Corridor
By Lynda Hong Ee Lyn, TODAY, 16 Jun 2011.
The possibility of conserving the KTM railway and its green environs, termed the Green Corridor, is under serious consideration, said Minister of State for National Development, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin.
He revealed on his Facebook page that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board have been discussing the possibility with the Nature Society Singapore (NSS), which submitted a proposal in October last year.
He added: “I have read their … proposal and it’s fascinating.”
The challenges faced by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the “re-looking of policies so that we can meet the needs of Singaporeans” has sharpened his own sense on what is Singapore – a small nation that needs to squeeze in housing, recreation, industry, business, defence, catchment and heritage needs in slightly over 700 sq km of land, BG (NS) Tan said.
Source: TODAY
MND mulling “Green Corridor” along KTM railway land
By Channel NewsAsia, 16 June 2011.
The possibility of a “Green Corridor” along the KTM railway is being seriously looked into.
Minister of State for National Development, BG Tan Chuan-Jin, posted on his Facebook page that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and National Parks Board are actively discussing the matter with the Nature Society Singapore (NSS).
Source: Channel NewsAsia
