Adios Tajong Pagar

Anyone who has visited our flat will know that the train line to Malaysia runs right under our window. It is fun to think that the people being transported along are heading off to another country. Maybe it comes from growing up in the UK where getting to another country involves a boat or a plane journey. The broken down trains that rattle slowly past carry a sense of mystery...and also an incredibly loud whistle! We originally thought that the only train station in Singapore was down at Tajong Pagar in the south of the island, but I had kept passing a sign for 'Bukit Timah railway station' whenever I was on the bus home. So one weekend, bearing in mind that the whole operation was due to be closed down shortly, we set off to explore the mystery. I had never seen anyone on the land around the sign so imagine our surprise at seeing a coach tour of around 50 people clustering around it all taking photos! It seems that enterprising tour agencies had started running 'Farewell' tours where folks from Singapore and Malaysia could travel on the train for one last time and relive their memories before the whole lot was closed. The station itself was like a little piece of history and certainly didn't look like all the gleaming transport hubs found in the rest of Singapore. In fact, when questioned, the guard could only tell us that the next train was, 'Probably around 4 ish!' Definitely more Malaysian that Singaporean!

It's all gone quiet now along the train line as the service no longer runs, but I'm happy to see that it has become an inpromptu nature walk and each day I see groups of people tracing the path down to Tajong Pagar.

Click here for photos of Bukit Timah station