Last train out of Singapore.

I was on the last train into Singapore tonight and when we arrived, we realised they were preparing for the same train to leave Singapore.

We saw a huge mob of people coming towards all the passengers who just got off the train. We knew why later. The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail was the VIP in our midst. He was to drive the last train out of Singapore at 11 PM.



The Sultan earlier passed right in front of me and shoke the hands of the person beside me!
He then signed the t-shirt in front of us.




We left Tanjong Pagar KTM Station and rushed to the Bukit Timah Station on the way home after a long day.  We made it just in time and caught the train driven by the Sultan of Johor. Can you spot him?

There was a huge crowd waving good bye at the Bukit Timah Station!

At the stroke of midnight, Tanjong Pagar Station and Bukit Timah Station will be returned to Singapore.

KTM Tanjong Pagar Station

By the end of this month, the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) trains from Malaysia will stop traveling into the heart of Singapore's CBD at Tanjong Pagar.

The short story:
The governments of Singapore and Malaysia reached an agreement on 24 May 2010, (about a year ago!) to relocate the last stop for KTM's train to terminate at Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The Tanjong Pagar or Keppel Road station which opened in 1932 will cease operations on 1 July 2011.



Do you see FMSR on the pillars of the building?
It stands for Federated Malay States Railways. It has so much historical significance that this building has been gazetted as Singapore 64th National Monument.

(The Bukit Timah Railway Station will also be preserved but won't be gazetted as a National Monument, but a conserved building.)

For Momo and myself, we want to be part of history. We will be taking the last train on 30 June 2011 that will come into the Tanjong Pagar station. We are following a group of online friends that we have not met! If you are interested, go visit: http://www.facebook.com/LastTrainToTanjongPagar If you read today's Straits Times, you would have seen the article in the Life Section.

Another interesting fact that I read online is that, the Sultan of Johor, HRH Sultan Ibrahim Ismail will be driving the last train out of Singapore. The Sultan of Johor is a 'train person'. He has driven the KTMB's train a few times, and you can read it in the news.

For more interesting notes about Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, read Jerome Lim's blog. It's an eye opener. URL: http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com