A MOMENT IN

TIME

PART ONE

TANJONG PAGAR
RAILWAY STATION

TANJONG
PAGAR
RAILWAY
STATION

CONTENTS
what about monuments?

56

whats the history behind it?

78
what are the architectural
details?

9 12
A MOMENT IN TIME

Where joy,
happiness and
tears were
captured in
that moment.

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, previously known as Keppel Road Railway Station,
located along Keppel Road, used to be the main passenger station for trains
run by the Malaysian main rail operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Berhad
travelling between Singapore and Malaysia. The building was opened in 1932
to serve as the southern terminus for the West Coast line of the KTM railway.
In April 2011, the station was gazetted as a national monument. The last train
departure from Tanjong Pagar station took place before a large crowd on 30
June 2011, marking an end to the stations 79 years of service. Woodlands Train
Station Checkpoint took over as terminus for KTMs Singapore services from 1 July
2011 onward.

A MOMENT IN TIME

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

was built on a reclaimed land from
a firm Brossard and Mopin Ltd.
It was constructed between 1929
and 1932 and was officially opened
by Governor Sir Cecil Clementi on
2 May 1932. Located opposite the
Tanjong Pagar docks to facilitate
the easy transfer of cargo between
steamships and railway trains.
During the 1918 agreement,
British
colonial
government
handed ownership of the railway
land in Singapore to Federated
Malay States Railway (FMSR) on
999 year lease which was then
handed over to Keretapi Tanah
Melayu (KTM) Berhad after
Malaysias independence. Hence,
the railway land became part of
Malaysian
sovereign
territory.
Therefore,
passengers
who
boarded the train had to clear the
Malaysian customs even when
boarding the train in Sngapore.
They resolved the issue of
railway land ownership by both
governments signed a bilateral
accord in 1990 in which Malaysia
had agreed to cancel the Tanjong
Pagar Railway Station in return for
three parcels of land in Singapore.
However, political differences
continue to unresolved.
It was only in 2010 when both
countries resolved the problems
by coming up with a new

implementation of the 1990 accord.

KTM Berhad agreed to cancel the
Tanjong Pagar Railway Station by
1 July 2011 and shift its operations
to Woodlands Train Checkpoint.
In exchange, Malaysia was
given ownership of six other land
parcels in Singapore to be jointly
developed by both governments.
The building was gazette as
national monument by Preservation
of Monuments Board (PMB) on
8 april 2011. The closure of the
station aroused major public
interest towards the building.
PMB conducted guided tours
which involve large number of
visitors. Photographs were taken to
preserve the memory of the station
while others purchased KTM
souvenirs or sought autographs
from station staff. Train rides were
also fully booked as many tried to
get a seat on board the last few
journeys out of the station.
On 30 June 2011 at 11pm sharp,
the Sultan of Johor Ibrahim
Iskandar piloted the last trains
departure from the station in a
ceremony witnessed by a large
crowd. Shortly after midnight,
the station was officially closed,
with its ownership reverted to the
Singapore government.

The train back in the

1970s where it were still
commonly used.

A MOMENT IN TIME

Serbian architect D. S. Petrovich from

Swan and Maclaren designed Tanjong
Pagar Railway Station. It was influenced
by art-deco, neo-classical and local
styles of design. Also, Finlands Helsinki
Station designed by Eliel Saarinen
inspired him.
An arched portico featuring green roof-

tiles influenced by Chinese temple

architecture shelters the station entrance.
There are four towering statues which
were themed on Agriculture, Commerce,
Transport and Industry which represent
the sectors of Malayas colonial
economy. The initials of the Federated
Malay States Railway were placed above
the sculpture.

the view of Tanjong

Pagar Railway Station
building from the outside.

source: google.com

A MOMENT IN TIME

The six murals which shows

mining and rubber tapping.

Initial of the FMSR below the

elongated window.

The main hall of the station has a high ceiling

that facilitates ventilation, with elongated
windows located along two opposite walls
that allow enough sunflight to fill the whole
place. Below these windows are the framed
initials of the FMSR. The remaining walls
of the station feature six murals designed
by Doulton & Co in London that portrays
economic activities that was historically
prominent in Malaya such as tin mining and
rubber tapping. The murals are tiles made of
ceramic, which were actually created from
coloured rubber by the Singapore Rubber
Works using a patented process. Similar

rubber tiles were also used to pave the

station floor initially but were replaced soon
after.
The station platforms are 1200 feet long. It
is designed to accommodate the longest
mail trains at the time. The buffer stops that
was manufactured by British Industrial firm,
located near the end of the two railway
platforms prevent train carriages from going
beyond the end of the rail lines. These can
only be found along the entire stretch of the
KTM railway.

Shown is the 1200 feet

long of the railway tracks.

11

ARCHITECTURE

The food stalls

that have been
operating for a few
decades is being
cleared due to
the closing down
of Tanjong Pagar
Railway Station.

The officers last day on the

railway station before it closes
down, while waiting for the arrival
of the last train.

AA MOMENT
MOMENT IN
IN TIME
TIME

TANJONG PAGAR RAILWAY STATION