From London to Singapore in 40 Days: Epilogue

The rail journey from London to Singapore would definitely not be complete without revisiting the former railway line in Singapore.

This is a track I wished I passed above while on the way back.

Bukit Timah Railway Station wouldn’t be complete without visiting the office. Nowadays, you can barely spend a minute in there as it’s now the security guard’s room on weekends and public holidays.

The waiting hall of the station.

What remains of the spare levers.

And thereafter heading on to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the true end of the journey from London St. Pancras.

Walking to the gate of the grand old dame.

Yeah, and this is I could get to the station on the day I revisited the station.

Finally, heading to the southernmost train station in Singapore – Beach Station.

The southernmost buffer stop in Singapore.

So technically, Beach Station is the last train station in the south without travelling with a boat or ship in Europe and Asia.

…

On the Saturday of my first weekend back, the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was opened, so I had to make a proper visit.

As the event was not really publicized much, there was a lot of space to myself as compared to the typical public holiday openings.

Unfortunately, the station is treated as just another community space now, almost ignoring the rich history behind it. In fact, SLA has just celebrated the 100,000th visitor to the station on Hari Raya Haji, clearly ignoring the millions, if not billions of passengers who has made their train journeys here, send off relatives and friends or simply coming for a meal since 3 May 1932.

A look at the departure platform, the former starting point of the northbound journey to the UK.

And the arrival platform, where I could have formally terminated my journey at a proper railway station.

The Nasi Lemak and Bandung that I couldn’t have upon arrival in Singapore at Woodlands.

But just as time stands still in Tanjong Pagar, I guess we can’t make our own time stand still and must adapt to progress. Depending on how it’s defined I guess.

With permission from an SLA staff, I managed to set foot on the arrival platform, which was closed during the event. And I’m thankful for that. I have finally “arrived” at the arrival platform of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, even though the journey from Woodlands CIQ was significantly longer than the 30 minutes it used to take on a train.

Looking back at the (lack of) tracks to Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France, Italy and England.

The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was opened on 11 June 2016 for the “A Ride Down Memory Land – PA Carnival” event.

There was a movie screening of “Long Long Time Ago 1” which most visitors watched in the car park, so not much people were in the station building proper, making it better for photos, and of course, the old feeling of the station which is usually overcrowded nowadays. Ironic that the station is now over-filled with people when there are no trains as compared to with regular train departures last time.

A Farmer’s Market during the event.

One last shot before I leave the station, and conclude my journey From London to Singapore in 40 Days.