Bukit Timah railway station
Bukit Timah Railway Station | ||||||||||||||||
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Former KTM Intercity station Conserved monument of URA | ||||||||||||||||
The Bukit Timah Railway Station when it was in operation, with the second version of the station building in centre. Together with Tanjong Pagar railway station, it closed on 1 July 2011. | ||||||||||||||||
Location | 1 Blackmore Drive, Bukit Timah, Singapore. | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 1°20′03″N 103°46′52″E / 1.33417°N 103.78111°E | |||||||||||||||
Owned by | Singapore Land Authority | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Formerly KTM Intercity | |||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform. | |||||||||||||||
Tracks | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Parking | None | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened |
1903 (original Tank Road line station) 16 September 2011 (reopened as conserved building) | |||||||||||||||
Closed |
1 July 2011 (as a railway station) | |||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1932 | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Bukit Timah Railway Station was a railway station (now a conserved recreational building) and crossing loop in Singapore, owned by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), the main railway operator in Malaysia.
It opened on the dismantled Tank Road mainline in 1903, was rebuilt on the current Singapore–Johor Bahru KTM Intercity mainline in 1932, until the Jurong Line shut down and it was a crossing loop station in the late 1940s until closure.
The station was a freight interchange for the now defunct Jurong Line from 1965 to the early 1990s.
On 1 July 2011 the line closed following a historic land-swap agreement between the Singapore and Malaysia governments which saw rail service between Woodlands and Tanjong Pagar cease.
Current usage
This station was between Tanjong Pagar railway station at the southern end of Singapore island and Woodlands Train Checkpoint at the northern end. It was a crossing loop station and signalling control house.
The token which is dropped off by the driver of the first train would then be taken by the station master and handed over to the awaiting train. That other train can then proceed into the sector previously passed through by the first train.
Closure on 1 July 2011
The station, along with the line between Woodlands at the northern edge of Singapore and Tanjong Pagar at the southern end, closed on 1 July 2011. The cessation was done without any public consulation and announced only after the decision had been taken. It is opposed and lamented by many as representing a great loss of heritage and travel convenience. Following the cessation, Singapore has only approximately a kilometre of main railway line, from Woodlands to Johor Bahru across the Straits of Johor.
The station was gazetted as a conserved building on 27 May 2011.[1]
2010 train derailment
The locomotive and two passenger coaches of a KTM train bound for Kuala Lumpur derailed near the Bukit Timah station just after 8am on 9 November 2010. None of the 60 passengers on board were injured. As a result of the derailment, all KTM train services from Singapore on the day of the incident were cancelled, southbound services terminated at JB Sentral and services the next day were rescheduled.[2]
The station following closure
Following closure, the railway track between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands was quickly removed by the Singapore Land Authority and returned to Malaysia. A few metres of track have been left between the platforms at Bukit Timah, as well as the iron bridge across Bukit Timah Road, immediately to the north of the station. The rest of the trackbed has been turfed over and is now open to the public as a linear park, as part of Singapore's Nature Society and URA's "Rail Corridor" project.
The Bukit Timah station buildings were reopened to the public by the Singapore Land Authority on 16 September 2011. The buildings can be visited during daylight hours, however no refurbishment or development has occurred since they were vacated by the KTM.
Gallery
- Bukit Timah Railway Station before closure
- Bukit Timah railway station seen in July 2012, a year after closure
- The manually operated signalling room at Bukit Timah Railway Station before closure.
- The same location in July 2012 following closure and removal of most fixtures and fittings
- Train driver dropping a key token for the northern section between Woodlands and Bukit Timah.
- The moment the train driver picks up the next key token for the southern section between Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar.
- One of the old stands for receiving the key token remains at Bukit Timah station in July 2012
See also
- Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990
- Rail transport in Singapore
- Tanjong Pagar railway station
- Woodlands Train Checkpoint
References
- ↑ "Bukit Timah Railway Station conserved". Urban Redevelopment Authority. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ↑ "KTM train services rescheduled after derailing". Channel NewsAsia. 9 November 2010.