A peek into the early days of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station started its life in the fourth decade of the 20th Century as what was to have been the southern point of an ambitious vision to link the Europe’s vast rail network with a network that would span the continent of Asia, and eventually connect with the rest of the Far East by rail, with the network extending potentially to the Indian and Pacific Oceans via sea routes, with Singapore serving as the gateway. The station’s main building was mostly completed at the end of 1931, its first act seeing not a rush of passengers through its main hall, but visitors to a Manufacturers’ Exhibition which opened on 2nd January 1932 – the very first to be held in Singapore. Coming as the world was suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, the exhibition served to bring to light Singapore’s hitherto unheard of manufacturing potential, providing local manufacturers with a platform to showcase their products and capabilities and at the same time to promote Singapore’s growing importance as a economic centre in the British Far East with the newly built grand station as its centrepiece. The aim of the exhibition as stated in the official guide was “to present as many aspects as possible of actual and potential manufacture in Singapore” and included amongst the exhibitors, some companies that were to become household names in Singapore such as Robinsons, John Littles, Malaya Publishing House which was to later become known as MPH, Diethelm and the Straits Trading Company. Opened by the then Governor of Singapore, Sir Cecil Clementi, the exhibition also provided many members of the public with their first view of the internals of the main building of the brand new station.

The main building of the station was first used as a venue for the first Singapore Manufacturers' Exhibition which opened on 2nd January 1932 (image source: Willis' Singapore Guide, 1936).

The actual opening of the station wasn’t until some months later on the 2nd of May 1932. To commemorate the opening, a passenger train, the first that was to pull into Tanjong Pagar, which, as reported by the Straits Times on 3rd May 1932, “comprised of an engine and three saloons to travel over the new deviation”, left Bukit Panjang Station at 4.30 pm with a load of guest that included the Governor, the Sultan of Perak and Mr J Strachan, the General Manager of the FMSR, and arrived “punctually at 5.15”. In his speech at the opening, Sir Clementi provided an insight into the vision which provided the motivation for building of a station of the stature of Tanjong Pagar, saying: “we stand here at the southernmost tip of the continent of Asia; and, since the Johore Strait is now spanned by a causeway which was opened for traffic on June 28, 1924, we may even say that we stand at the southernmost top of the mainland of Asia. This point is, therefore, a real terminus as well as a natural junction between land-borne and sea-borne traffic; and it is very right that the terminal station of the Malayan railway system should be built at Singapore, the gateway between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and immediately opposite the Tanjong Pagar docks, where every facility will be afforded for interchange between railway and ocean shipping”. The Governor also added that he had “not the slightest doubt that, for centuries, this Singapore terminal station will stand here as one of the most nodal points in the whole world’s scheme of communications.” While this, eight decades later has not quite come true for the station (we are also still talking about a Trans-Asian rail network, it probably has come true of Singapore as a wider communications node – the Governor could not have envisaged the phenomenal growth of air transportation at that time.

The location of the station, across from the docks at Tanjong Pagar, was deliberately selected so that the southern terminal of the what would have been an intercontinental overland railway network could be integrated with ocean shipping and extend the reach over the Pacific and Indian Oceans (image source: Willis' Singapore Guide, 1936).

The station, the work of Swan and McLaren, even in its current state having had much better days, is a wonderful work of architecture to marvel at. Described by an article in the 7th May 1932 edition of the Malayan Saturday Post on the occasion of the opening of the station as having a “palatial appearance”, the station is now overshadowed by the towering blocks that have come up at its vicinity, as well as by the elevated road, buildings and containers stacked high that obscures most of it from the the docks it was meant to feed. What must be the features of the grand building that stand out most are the entrance arches flanked by the triumphal figures, the work of sculpture Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli, that seem to stand guard over all that passes under the arches into the grand vaulted hallway described as “lofty and cool” in the same article. The main hall of the station extends three storeys (some 21.6 metres) above the visitor to provide for a sufficient pocket of air to allow the hall to be kept cool in the oppressive tropical heat. It is this lobby that impresses the most, with not just the vaulted ceiling, but also the six sets of mosaic panels that resemble batik paintings that immediately catch the attention of the visitor. It is the timeless beauty of the main hall, that, in any future developments being planned for what is Singapore’s newest National monument, should be made accessible to the public as it is today, and not as many other public buildings that have been conserved over the years, accessible to an exclusive few.

The main vaulted hall of the station in its early days. An impressive integration of architecture and public art. The lamps and the clock seen in this picture - has long since disappeared, but the hall remains, even in the state the station building is in today, a particularly impressive piece of architectural work. Caption reads 'Booking Hall, Singapore Station' (image source: Willis' Singapore Guide, 1936).

There is a lot more clutter in the hall today ... the lamps and the clock we see in the hall in the station's early days are also missing.

The Willis’ Singapore Guide (1936), provides an insight into Tanjong Pagar and the operation of the FMS Railway around the time of the station’s opening. It describes the FMSR as running from Singapore for 580 miles to Padang Besar where it meets the Royal State Railways of Siam and incorporates 121¼ miles of the Johore State Railway which was leased by the FMSR. As is the case today, the East Coast Line branched off at Gemas to the port of Tumpat some 465 miles from Singapore, where a short branch line connects with the Siamese Railways at Sungei Golok. We are also told that a branch line connects with what was then Port Swettenham (now Port Klang), with branches also serving other ports at Malacca, Port Dickson, Teluk Anson and Port Weld. A total of 1321 miles of metre gauge tracks were laid providing some 1067 miles of track mileage. A daily service of trains from Singapore to Penang was maintained with a day and night express service daily which took some 22 hours to reach Penang and some 9 hours (doesn’t seem much different from the journey these days) to reach Kuala Lumpur from Singapore.

The journey in the 1930s to Kuala Lumpur took some 9 hours.

The express train services in 1936 (source: Willis' Singapore Guide, 1936)

On the evidence of the guide, which I suppose would be referring to service in first class, the service provided does seem a lot more comfortable than what we’ve become accustomed to these days, as described by the guide, with Restaurant Cars which served “an excellent breakfast, luncheon or dinner”, “at a reasonable price”. Sleeping Saloons with two berth cabins were provided on the night trains (as they are now) and a “commodious Buffet Parlour Car is attached to the night express trains between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur”. Breakfast, tiffin and tea baskets were also available at the principal stations which could be ordered en route with the “Guard of the trains or any Station Master” able to “telegraph free of charge”.

Once the last train pulls out of Tanjong Pagar Station, it would bring to an end a little over 79 years of operation of a station that was to see centuries as one of the 'most nodal points in the whole world's scheme of communications'.

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The information above has been put together from various newspaper articles and as well as the Willis’ Singapore Guide 1936, to provide a glimpse into the early days of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. More information on the station and its architectire can be found on a previous post: “A final look at Tanjong Pagar Station“. I also have a collection of experiences and memories of the railway in Singapore and of my journeys through the grand old station and if you care to read about them, do drop by my page “Journeys through Tanjong Pagar“. Also, if you are keen to find out and support the Nature Society’s (Singapore) proposal to retain the green areas that have been preserved by the existence of the railway through Singapore and maintain it as a Green Corridor, do drop by the Green Corridor’s website and show your support by liking the Green Corridor’s Facebook page … I do also have a series of posts on the Green Corridor if that is of interest – please visit them at “Support the Green Corridor“.

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A final look at Tanjong Pagar Station

Together with a group of yesterday.sg fans, I had another look around Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, on a 45 minute tour run by the Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB), to provide participants with a better appreciation of Singapore’s latest National Monument, before operations end on the 1st of July this year. Besides meeting with yesterday.sg’s Shaun Wong, from whom I learnt that the inspiration for the name of the website was the Beatles song “Yesterday”, I also had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger P.Y. of Oceanskies, who incidentally has provided a comprehensive account of the tour, and Belinda Tan who I am grateful to for stirring up quite a fair bit of interest in my blog by posting links to my set of railway memories. The short but informative tour was led by a PMB volunteer, Rosanne, who provided a fair bit of information on the background to the station, the reasons for its establishment and the choice of location. What interested me in particular, was the information that related to the station’s architecture, which provided me with a better appreciation of the station.

I had the opportunity to join a PMB tour of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station courtesy of yesterday.sg.

The station we were told by Rosanne, was built to provide a grand station that was to be the terminal of what the British had envisaged as a intercontinental transport network that was to span from Singapore at the southern tip of the Asian continent to the British Isles. The choice of the location close to the docks at Tanjong Pagar signaled the ambitious extent of the British Empire’s intent in expanding transport and communication links between the British Isles with Asia and further afield, with Singapore’s strategic location being seen as the gateway (by sea) to the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Designed by Swan and MacLaren, the station is thought to have been designed after Helsinki’s Central Station and sharing elements with Washington D. C.’s Union Station. The style of architecture, Art Deco, that was selected was one that it was felt combined both Western and Eastern elements and influences. Art Deco is in fact very much in evidence around the station – geometric patterns in the details of the ceiling and arches of the portico an example. Another example of the Art Deco style that is evident is use of triumphal figures in the form of the four Cavalieri Rodolfo Nolli sculptures at the façade that represent the four pillars of the Malayan economy, being Agriculture, Commerce, Transport and Industry. Our attention was also drawn to portions of the roof which featured a green tile structure inspired by the roofs of Chinese Temples.

Transport, one of the four pillars of the Malayan economy is seen carrying a stone block, with a wheel behind, stepping on a bow of a ship. The use of triumphal figures is common in Art Deco architecture

The Chinese temple inspired green tiled part of the station's roof.

Lions on the window details at the station's side are meant to represent Singapore.

Inside the hall, our attention was drawn to the six sets of batik style mosaic mural panels which feature some 9000 tiles that represent the economies of the Federated Malay States (FMS), as well as to the two crests – one being the crest of the Federated Malay States – which comprised of the four British protected states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, and the Straits Settlements. Closer inspection of the coat of arms reveals a shield that is coloured with a colour from each of the four state flags in the case of the FMS, and in the case of the Straits Settlements, the shield is made up of four quadrants each representative of the three settlements, Penang, Malacca and Singapore, and also Christmas Island which was annexed to the Straits Settlements in 1889. The station when it was built was designed to maximise the comfort, particularly of first and second class passengers embarking on what was to be a long journey (Rosanne mentioned it took something like 29 hours to reach the Siamese border by train from Tanjong Pagar and the Japanese during the occupation, improved the speed of the passenger trains to 60 km/h and goods trains to 50 km/h, cutting the journey time by some 5 hours), equipped with amenities such as passenger waiting rooms, refreshment rooms, dining rooms, a hairdresser’s shop, dressing rooms and lavatories. Based on news reports of the opening of the station, we are also told that there were other rooms such as a telegraph office, parcel room, offices for the necessary station staff and included a few bedrooms.

Batik painting style mosaic mural panels in the main hall depict the economies of the FMS.

The coat-of-arms of the Federated Malay States - the shield features colours of the four protected states of the FMS.

The coat-of-arms of the Straits Settlements with each quadrant of the shield representing the each of the Straits Settlements which then also included the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island.

The 45 minute tour ended at the start of the departure platform which now features immigration counters introduced after the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, when travel across the Johor Straits required a passport. When I first started taking the trains in the 1990s, we would have to pass through the Singapore Immigration counters at the near end before going through Malaysian Immigration and Customs further down the platform … this practice was discontinued from mid 1998 when Singapore shifted its immigration to the CIQ Complex in Woodlands, insisting that the Malaysian authorities do the same. This has been resisted right up until today – and up to the 30th of June, one of the things you can still do is to enter Malaysia before leaving Singapore (for a more detailed explanation on this please read my previous post “A final journey from Tanjong Pagar: into Malaysia before leaving Singapore“. The platforms we were also told were some 1,200 feet long, built to cater to the longest of mail trains. We were also shown some of the features around the platform of historical value that would be retained – this included the hydraulic buffer stops at the end which apparently are the only ones found in the stations operated by the Malaysn Railway. The tour ended with a little excitement – first from the animated voiced coming from Malaysian immigration officers who tried to tell us we had strayed a little too far along the platform. It was then time for a quick catch up over some teh-tarik at the cafeteria with my fellow participants and new found friends ….

What used to be immigration counters used by the Singapore authorities ... and apparently reclaimed by Malaysia since mid 1998 ...

A train on the departure platform - the platforms are 1,200 feet in length to accommodate the longest of the mail trains. We were also told that 3rd Class passengers had to use a side access to the platforms.

One of the two hydraulic buffers.

The roof over the platforms also show art deco features in the geometric patterns found on them.

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For a comprehensive account of the tour, do drop by PY’s post “The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Tour on 21 May 2011“. And if any of you are keen to hop onto the last train into Singapore and have a party … do drop by Notabilia’s post “All Aboard? Party on the Last Train Through Singapore” and indicate your interest there. I also have a collection of experiences and memories of the railway in Singapore and of my journeys through the grand old station and if you care to read about them, do drop by my page “Journeys through Tanjong Pagar“. Lastly, if you are keen to find out and support the Nature Society’s (Singapore) proposal to retain the green areas that have been preserved by the existence of the railway through Singapore and maintain it as a Green Corridor, do drop by the Green Corridor’s website and show your support by liking the Green Corridor’s Facebook page … I do also have a series of posts on the Green Corridor if that is of interest – please visit them at “Support the Green Corridor“.

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Rosanne, the volunteer guide with the PMD who led the tour.

A last look at the station ....

Capturing memories and the station's last days of the station seems to be very much fashion these days.

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Don’t miss the last train!

The last day of June this year will bring to a close a long chapter in our history, one that will break a link we have had with the Malayan Railway, now operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), that went back some 108 years. The railway’s beginings can be traced back to the Singapore-Kranji Railway which started service in 1903 providing a link from the north down to the terminal station in Tank Road. A ferry service was introduced which provided rail passengers with a link to the Johor Railway across the Straits of Johor which was replaced by the rail link across the Causeway when that was built. It was a railway deviation in 1932 that diverted the railway to its current terminal at Tanjong Pagar, cutting a path through from Bukit Timah deviating from its original route over towards Ulu Pandan, Buona Vista, Tanglin Halt, towards the new grand terminal built to provide Singapore with a station that was befitting of its economic importance. Beside the grand old station, it was this deviation that possibly provided us with the many structures that give the areas through which the railway passes through a unique flavour as well as helping preserving parts of old Singapore: the two distinctive black truss bridges across Bukit Timah Road; the girder bridges across at the road entrance to Bukit Timah Hill and at the entrance to Hillview Avenue; the quaint old station at Bukit Timah and the wonderful green corridor that has been maintained along much of the railway land.

The last train will pass reach Woodlands Checkpoint at approximately 23:00 on 30th June 2011 and that will end 108 years of trains of the Malayan Railway chugging through Singapore.

And so, on the 30th of June, the locomotive that drags the 22:30 Senandung Malam through its half an hour passage across the island from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands would be the last to do so, pulling its way past what would have been familiar sights in the darkness of the night, breaking the silence one last time of what it would leave as a long and lonely corridor. With its scheduled arrival at Woodlands Train Checkpoint at 23:00, the familiar sights and sounds: the sights of the rushing flash of silver tinged with blue, white, yellow and red across the truss and girder bridges, roads (at the five level operational crossings) and through the many places that as children we would have watched the train pass by; and the sounds of the rattle of the diesels and blaring horns, would be but a memory. With that, that old world feel that one somehow associates with the train would be also be a thing of the past, as operations commence from Woodlands on the 1st of July, leaving passengers and well-wishers with little or no opportunity to experience that send-off or welcome or an arrival at a grand station that a journey by train somehow deserves.

A journey to or from Tanjong Pagar is a unique experience not to be missed.

Getting on the train from Tanjong Pagar would I guess be the best way to have that experience, but even if you don’t intend to do that, there are many ways to have a last experience of the last of the trains through Singapore. One of the best ways to do it is to watch the passing and waiting of the trains at the old Bukit Timah Station, accessible via a path on each side of the black railway bridge near King Albert Park. It is at this quaint old station that we can observe that old fashioned practice of the handing over of the key-token – the last place along the KTM Railway line that this practice to ensure that there is only one train on the single track that is still in use. If you do go to the station at Bukit Timah, do remember that the station and the grounds around it are still very much the property of KTM, and that although for most part the Station Master is quite tolerant of curious visitors, it would be good to ensure that you do not impede the station’s operations as well as compromise your own safety. And, if you do intend to take a few photographs, or do video recordings, please remember to also seek the permission of the Station Master. To catch a glimpse of the trains and the handing over of the key token, the best time would be to do so in the mornings as trains would be most frequent then. The schedule of trains passing at Bukit Timah Station is: 04:45, 06:09, 06:45, 07:30, 08:15, 10:45, 13:15; 16:26, 18:11, 18:15, 19:10, 20:55, 21:47, and 22:45 (do note that KTM trains do not alway run on schedule). The last trains would be the ones on the 30th of June this year, so do make it a point to catch them, before they are gone, as many wonderful experiences on our island are now gone, forever.

It is also worth paying a visit to quaint old Bukit Timah Station to catch the passing trains as well as witness the old fashioned practice of the handing over of the key token - the only remaining place along the KTM line that this is still done.

The Key Token.

A key token for the northern section being handed over by an incoming southbound train.

Carriages of a south bound train waiting for a north bound train to pass at Bukit Timah Station.

The Station Master scurrying off on a bicycle to pass the key token to the driver of a south bound train.

A reflection no more after the 30th of June - the station at Bukit Timah being reflected off a passing train.

Silence will greet Bukit Timah Station after 79 years of hearing the frequent sounds of engines and whistles.

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KTM timetable

Note: Times shaded in green are those at the start points, and those in red at the end points. There are two lines, the North South Line and the East Line which run out of and into Tanjong Pagar until 30th June 2011.

North-South Line Timetable (click to enlarge).

East Line Timetable (click to enlarge).

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The Malaysian Settlement in Singapore and the memory of Charles Edwin Spooner

[This is a repost of my post at The Long and Winding Road, my main blog site.] For more posts related to the Railway Land in Singapore, the Shift of the KTM station from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands, and of Train Journeys on KTM, please click on this link.

There is an obscure little corner of Singapore which many do not notice, nestled between Kampong Bahru Road and the railway yard that stretches to Keppel Road. Stepping into the area, you could quite easily forget that you are still in Singapore except for the two blocks of flats that resemble our own blocks of public housing built by the HDB in the mid 1970s, as you will be overcome by a feeling of stepping into a different world. It is a different world in many ways, being part of the land which is owned by the Malaysian State Railway, KTMB, and very much a part of the lost world within the KTM Railway Land that with the agreement between the Singapore and Malaysian Governments to redevelop the land in place, that will probably be consumed by modernity which has relentlessly swept across much of the island in the last three decades.

A lost world exists in Kampong Bahru ...

Access to the area is via Spooner Road, a name strange enough to have caught enough of my attention when I was in school to remember that I had a schoolmate (who I wasn’t really close to), who we referred to as ‘Spooner’ (for obvious reasons), who for some reason resided in one of the flats there. The flats of course, sitting on KTM land, belongs to the Railway, as much as the train yard and the Running Bungalow that sits at the entrance to the area on Spooner Road. I am not too certain when the current two blocks of flats were put up. Judging from the style of the blocks, it would have probably been around the mid 1970s, but they were definitely there at the end of the 1970s when I was in school with ‘Spooner’. The Running Bungalow itself was built in the early 1930s, part of the effort that has given us the magnificent Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the Railway Deviation of 1932 that provided the Bukit Timah area with some of its distinctive character. Before the current blocks of flats, there had been the Perak and Selangor flats which had served as the quarters of the Railway Workers in Singapore.

Access to the lost world is via Spooner Road, off Kampong Bahru Road.

The Running Bungalow was built in the early 1930s together with the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

A reflection of the Running Bungalow in a puddle of water on Spooner Road.

View of Spooner Road, the Running Bungalow and the KTM Flats.

While the redevelopment of what must be rather valuable land in an area that is on the fringe of the CBD is probably inevitable, I do harbour some hope that the road, Spooner Road, or at least the name of the road is preserved in some way. The road is named after none other than Mr Charles Edwin Spooner, who came over as a State Engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) in Selangor after a stint with the PWD in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Among the projects that he oversaw and possibly influenced being in charge of the Selangor PWD was the construction of the wondrous and iconic Moorish styled Sultan Abdul Samad building which many now identify Kuala Lumpur with. In 1901, Spooner was appointed as the first General Manager of the FMS Railways (FMSR) and in that capacity oversaw the rapid expansion of the predecessors to what became the Malayan Railway, including the construction of the 120 mile long Johore State Railways linking Gemas to Johor Baharu, and the magnificent station building in Kuala Lumpur, which was completed a year after Spooner’s untimely death in 1909. It was after Mr Spooner, that not only saw a Spooner Road named after him in Singapore, but one associated with the Railways in Kuala Lumpur (I am not sure if this exists anymore) and also in Ipoh (which is now named Jalan Spooner). And it is for all his achievements, spending a better part of his life in the improvement of the colonies both in Ceylon and Malaya that we owe Mr Spooner at least a place in our own history and for our future generations not only to honour the memory of Charles Edwin Spooner, but also to serve as a memory of the Railway line that once ran through Singapore.

Some residents of Spooner Road enjoying the lifestyle I had growing up ....

Another resident of Spooner Road.

The lost world of Spooner Road. There was a Spooner Road in Kuala Lumpur and one in Ipoh (which is now Jalan Spooner) as well.

More views around the flats:

Lifts at the block of flats at Spooner Road.

Enjoying a ride around Spooner Road.

Laundry pole supports...

Window louvres ...

More window louvres ...

The land on which Spooner Road and the building sit are very much Malaysian owned.

More views around the Railway Yard:

Views around the train yard ...

[This post is also featured on the One° North Explorers site.]

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Journeys through Tanjong Pagar: First Impressions …

I had as a child, been fascinated by the old railway station at Tanjong Pagar. The grand old station building, which has provided many of us with a passage to the north, had been one that always attracted my attention whenever I passed it in the backseat of my father’s car. The very first impression I have of the station is one that has been shaped by the food stalls that sprouted up in the open air car park in front of the station every evening, stalls that seemed to glow in the shadows cast by the grey façade of the railway station.

The passage to the north.

A passage to the north: Tanjong Pagar Railway Station has provided many travelling from Singapore a gateway to the north.

The car park that had in the 1960s and 1970s been illuminated by night by the glow of hawker stalls.

I had very much been in awe of the old grey façade, one that had appeared to be dominated by the four large statues that straddled the three large archways, each one meant to symbolise one of Malaya’s four economic pillars, with the letters FMSR, the Federated Malay States Railway, giving evidence of the time at which the station was built. The façade later drew me as it reminded me very much of the great trains stations of Europe that I had dreamt of travelling through, whilst embarking on one of the great train journeys that featured in the many black and white movies. The architecture of the station, built in 1932 had itself drawn inspiration from a great European station, Helsinki’s Central Station, and as much as Helsinki Central is a landmark in Helsinki, Tanjong Pagar Station is a landmark along Keppel Road.

The southern gateway to the north would soon be a thing of the past ... the KTM railway station at Tanjong Pagar would be relocating to Woodlands by 1 July 2011.

Four large statues (two of which are seen here) which symbolise the four economic pillars of the then Malaya dominate the building's façade. The architecture of the building was said to have been influenced by Helsinki's Central Station.

Despite the fascination I had, I only visited the station on a few occasions in my childhood, each time taken by the large batik painting styled mosaic murals that adorned the high lobby of the station. It was only much later in life that I made my first journey from Tanjong Pagar, a journey that would was the start of a series of journeys by train to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur (KL). That very first journey had been one that was made on a whim, with me deciding to catch an overnight train to the KL for a weekend. Arriving late after work on a Friday, I was to discover that there only third class seats on the overnight Mail Train (Mel Malam) were available. Having already made my way to Tanjong Pagar, I decided to go ahead with the journey – a decision that I was later to regret …

The batik styled mosaic murals in the lobby that depict scenes of Malayan life.

I had by then, developed a liking for train journeys, having first had the experience on an intercity train from Ghent to Antwerp in 1985, one that I remember for the wonderful view of the flat Flemish countryside. It was however later during my undergraduate days that I was to be able to embark on some of the great train journeys I had dreamt of in my younger years, passing through some of the magnificent stations I had longed to see: Paris’ Gare du Nord and the Gare de Lyon; London’s St. Pancreas and some of those on the Monopoly board; Santa Lucia in Venice … to name a few, each with a distinct flavour and a flamboyance that seemed fitting in their association with the great train journeys of the movies and in literature. Tanjong Pagar perhaps lacks some of the hustle that give some of the character to its European counterparts, but standing in the station that evening, I had the romantic notion that I was back in one of the great stations, embarking on another adventure on the railway.

The airy lobby where many a passenger would wait for the gates behind - ones that lead to the immigration counters and platforms, to open.

Having waited in the lobby for a couple of hours for the gates to open, the romantic illusions I had, evaporated with the opening of the gates that led to the immigration and customs counters. The crowd that had gathered behind the gate immediately surged forward in a rush towards the counters, a rush that I hesitated to join in, deciding against jostling with the seemingly impatient crowd. Going through Immigration and Malaysian Customs, I found myself behind a wall of people held back by a steel barrier across the platform. I was soon to realise why there had been that mad initial rush. A madder rush was to follow – as soon as the barrier was pushed aside, a frenzied dash ensued – one that one might have mistaken for a dash fuelled by fear and panic. Boarding the train, it soon became apparent why the mad dash had occurred – moving up the aisle, I realised that there was not a seat left … not wanting to have to stand for what was scheduled to be a nine hour overnight journey, I searched desperately for a seat, finally finding one – a hard straight backed seat in a smoking compartment, wedged between a chain smoking passenger and a window that refused to be opened.

The gate to the departure platform ...

Somehow, I survived that long uncomfortable ride, one that was made even longer by the frequent unscheduled stops and starts the train made along the way, having to give way to the express services which shared the single track heading in both directions, and the inability to catch any sleep in the discomfort of the smoke filled cabin. The long eleven hour journey finally ended with the sight of the Kuala Lumpur’s wonderful station and with wisdom that taking the mail train to KL wasn’t as romantic as it might first have appeared to me.

My first journey by train had been one taken in the discomfort of a non-air conditioned smoked filled third class carriage - unlike the relative comfort of the air-conditioned first and second class carriages seen at the platforms.

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