Shooting the Last Days of the KTM Railway

By CK Ng, 9 Jul 2011.

I was not much of a railway person. The KTM railway in Singapore has been around for nearly 80 years, but like most people, I never thought much about it. I had vague memories of taking the train to Malaysia when I was a little kid but couldn’t remember much of it.

The quaint little railway station (which I never knew about until recently) and the iconic black truss bridge across Bukit Timah Railway – these were very close to Ngee Ann Polytechnic where I spent three years studying. I would pass the bridge every day on the way to and from the polytechnic, but never ventured to explore the vicinity.

The black truss bridge across Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road, as seen from the Bukit Timah Railway Station side. Read more

End of an Era

By CK Ng, 2 Jul 2011.

After 79 years of operation, the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will cease operations on 30 June 2011. Not wanting to miss the historic moment, I decided to pay the station a last visit before it’s closed the next day. Gilbert was with me as well, and we hoped to capture the last trains in and out of the station which will serve as a closure for the many photographs of the railway that we’ve done over the past few weeks.

Arriving at the station and not having previously shot it at night, I decided to take a photo of it. Additional lights have been put up to further light up the station’s facade, which we later found was also to prepare for the arrival of the Sultan of Johor who will be driving the last train out of the station.

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Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

By CK Ng, 26 Jun 2011.

This weekend marks the last weekend of the train operations along the old railway system in Singapore. During the last few weekends, I’ve been photographing around the Bukit Timah Railway Station several times as I am attracted to the quaint little building and also wanted to capture the old practice of exchanging key tokens.

Today, after bringing Clarence, Jimmy and their friend Lawrence to the station to shoot, we made our way to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. The sky was starting to get dark and rain was imminent.

Another Visit to the Bukit Timah Railway Station

By CK Ng, 19 Jun 2011.

After attending the Green Corridor walk to the Bukit Timah Railway Station last week, I decided to get Gilbert as well as another couple of friends to go there to shoot again. I also wanted to get a few shots of the token exchange process, a practice still performed here but will be history once the railway line and land is handed back to the Singapore government come 1 July 2011.

We arranged to meet at 7am at the McDonald’s at King Albert’s Park, but I was disappointed when I woke up to find it raining. After some hesitation, we decided to go ahead as the rain was getting lighter, and by the time we started, there was no more rain. Thankfully we did not give up and go back to bed!

I missed shooting some of the signboards leading up to the station the last time round, so I took them on this trip.

Preserve rail station as part of transport network

Letter from Kong Pih Shu, TODAY, 31 May 2011.

I would like to suggest that the railway station be preserved as what it is – a railway station.

Continue the rail services, perhaps as an extension of public transport, with stations plotted along the railway line. In the future, we could extend the line around Singapore, so visitors and locals alike can experience a rustic, “kampung-like” way of travelling to see the whole country.

The railway line can complement the MRT network, with coaches that blend modern and traditional elements. In order to make taking the train a great family activity, we can consider, for instance, incorporating dining experiences on board. With a railway line, one can also simply hop on and disembark at, say, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Station and have a cup of coffee before venturing out to the reserve. There are so many possibilities!

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Source: TODAY