Rail Corridor (North) “2023 Kranji Deviation” to Kranji MRT Station

The new Rail Corridor (North) path now ends at Kranji MRT Station, which is not on the original railway alignment of the KTM Singapore Sector. This “2023 Kranji Deviation” of the Rail Corridor was opened on 10 February 2023 by the National Parks Board (NParks) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to curve the original railway alignment towards Kranji MRT Station to improve accessibility to the Rail Corridor.

NOTE: The “2023 Kranji Deviation” is a term I coined, and in no way reflects the official name of the Rail Corridor by NParks, URA, or any other official agencies. The new 2023 deviation is not reflected as a deviation, and the whole stretch of the Rail Corridor is officially called the Rail Corridor.

Bus Stop 45091 Opp Jln Bumbong

I started my short “Kranji Deviation” Rail Corridor (North) walk from Bus Stop 45091 Opp Jln Bumbong.

There is an access path into the Rail Corridor directly from this bus stop.

This bus stop is served by buses heading straight north from Bukit Panjang MRT Station such as 170, 178, 961, and 961M.

Jalan Bumbong Access Point

Heading into the Rail Corridor.

This section of the Rail Corridor (North) has also been paved with fine gravel.

This same Rail Corridor (North) section that I walked on 2 years ago was just sloshy mud and grass.

Interestingly, the sign has the distance to Tanjong Pagar blacked out, but has a 4.5km marker to “Woodlands”. Where is this “Woodlands” referring to?

For reference, this is near KM763.00 in the pre-EDTP KTM distance from Butterworth.

Along the Rail Corridor, there are the usual shared path signs also found in housing estates and park connectors.

Distance markers are laid around every 100 meters along the Rail Corridor.

It’s an easy walk on the newly-refurbished Rail Corridor (North) with fine gravel as the path.

The setting sun as seen from the Rail Corridor (North).

Approaching my point of interest. Can you see a strange kink in the supposed railway alignment yet?

Rail Corridor “2023 Kranji Deviation”

Near the former KM762.50, the Rail Corridor no longer follows the alignment of the KTM Singapore Sector, but now deviates to the right, tapering along Woodlands Road.

This is quite an obvious zig-zag, which I’m sure a regular facing and trailing crossover will be smoother than this too, so this is quite obvious that this is not the railway alignment.

The original railway alignment continues straight.

The deviation is at the current Rail Corridor 20.6km.

Looking straight on to JB, KL, Butterworth, Hat Yai, and Bangkok.

The original alignment is now overgrown by tall grass, almost impossible to walk on without proper equipment, and perhaps too dangerous to walk on now, since it’s impossible to see where the soil is.

Deviating to the new 2023 Kranji deviation of the Rail Corridor. This deviation comes after the 1932 deviation to Tanjong Pagar.

Interestingly, there is a blind spot mirror installed on this kink. It looks like it could be for an access point from Bus Stop 45101 Aft LP 234, but there was no path built in the end.

This deviation kink is over a new drain, useful during wet weather.

Ascending up the 2023 deviation of the Rail Corridor, away from the original KTM Singapore Sector track alignment.

Also very interestingly, the new 2023 deviation is fenced up between the “Rail Corridor” path and the main Woodlands Road with a separate regular pedestrian path.

Some parts of the fence is covered by tall grass, but it is still present.

I wonder if it’s any useful, especially if there is an emergency case in the Rail Corridor and the quickest way for emergency services to access the situation could be from this gap if no fence was installed.

Much of the 2023 deviation looks rural, but are in fact just visual, with urban vehicles travelling on Woodlands Road very audible since they are just a few meters away.

Kranji War Memorial Access Point

About 450 meters north of the 2023 deviation point, there is a new Kranji War Memorial Access Point. Kranji War Memorial is located about 450 meters awat from this new access point.

Very interestingly, or rather puzzling, the sign still points to Woodlands on this 2023 deviation to Kranji, this time with both distances to Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands blacked out. Is this an error?

Bus Stop 45111 Opp Kranji War Memorial is located just outside the Rail Corridor Kranji War Memorial Access Point.

Continuing on the 2023 deviation.

Passing under the MRT viaducts near Woodlands Road.

The “Rail Corridor” leads out to Woodlands Road here to be on the regular pedestrian path.

However, I see that the old shortcut path to the original Rail Corridor under the MRT viaducts is still visible, though with the soil turning green with nature possibly reclaiming itself slowly.

I deviated from the 2023 deviation to explore if the path was still accessible to the original Rail Corridor.

There is a bit of rubbish strewn on the path, giving me hope of civilisation, but which also very quickly disappeared.

The path was not visible just about 100 meters into my walk, and I decided that it was not worth my curiosity to bushwhack through the tall grass.

I returned to the 2023 deviation to continue on my walk to Kranji Node.

Heading back on the regular footpath.

Looking back at the new “Rail Corridor” where no trains had ever ran on. Though the MRT is running over it.

Heading on the “Rail Corridor” beside Woodlands Road.

Crossing the junction of Woodlands Road, Kranji Road, and Turf Club Avenue to continue on the “Rail Corridor”.

This new crossing is approximately 600 meters away from the former Kranji Gate along Kranji Road.

Continuing on the “Rail Corridor” after the road junction.

This section of the 2023 deviation is not fenced up, though tall grass is still present between the original roadside pavement and the new “Rail Corridor”.

New trees are being planted along this new “Rail Corridor”.

There is sort of a “level crossing” here, possibly providing a future access point from Bus Stop 45121 Opp S’pore Turf Club.

Crossing a bridge over a drain.

The entrance to the small loop park at Kranji Node.

Kranji MRT Station Access Point

Kranji MRT Station is the new main connecting hub of the “Rail Corridor”, and the new starting and ending point of the “Rail Corridor” to and from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. This is a permanent fixture, with the whole section from the former KM762.50 to Bridge 1839 (Mandai River) no longer part of the Rail Corridor.

The official Rail Corridor map on URA’s website also reflects this.

Kranji MRT Station Access Point is not the end of the “Rail Corridor” yet, with the path going on for a few more meters.

Heading on the final stretch to Kranji Node.

Kranji Node

The end of the “Rail Corridor” is now at Kranji Node.

Looking back down to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

There is a new Rail Corridor distance marker at Kranji Node opposite Kranji MRT Station denoting the distance to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station being 21.8km. I guess this is the starting point of the “2023 Kranji Deviation”.

Now, time for a little rewind.

Notably, the marker near Jalan Bumbong Access Point was marked as 20.2km. This means that the distance from Jalan Bumbong Access Point to Kranji Node is only about 1.6km.

Yet, the distance marker at Jalan Bumbong Access Point pointing to “Woodlands” was 4.5km.

So where exactly is this Woodlands supposed to be?

Is it Woodlands Train Checkpoint (Woodlands CIQ) at KM760.10, which is actually just 2.9km away, taking into account KTM’s pre-EDTP distance?

Or could it be actually Woodlands MRT Station, which by Google Maps road distance is about 4.7km away?

If it’s actually meant to be anywhere around Woodlands MRT Station, it makes no sense at all. Having the “Rail Corridor” at Kranji MRT Station is strange enough, and to mark that part of Woodlands as part of the “Rail Corridor” is even more strange as it is even further away from the original railway alignment. Woodlands Square was never served by KTM.

If it’s an indication of any further extensions of the “Rail Corridor” planned, let’s simply call it what it is – a Park Connector. Please don’t call it a “Rail Corridor” then. Remember the first word of “Rail Corridor”. If there was no rail, it’s not real.

Heading back to Kranji MRT Station to proceed onwards with my day.

In a strange sense of connectivity restoration, Bus Stop 45131 Opp Kranji Stn at Rail Corridor (North) Kranji Node connects onwards to Johor Bahru Malaysia by SBS Transit Bus Services 160, 170, and 170X.

Conclusion

I hope you don’t get me wrong that I’m anti-Kranji Node. I think it provides much better connectivity and increases the potential of the Rail Corridor to be a cycle highway of sorts.

I just think that this 2023 Kranji Deviation should have been better explained, especially when there may already be no trace of the section from KM762.50 to Bridge 1839 (Mandai River), and in future, onwards to Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral) with the demolition of Woodlands Train Checkpoint (Woodlands CIQ) once the RTS Link is up and running.

With no information online and offline to say that this is a new deviation by URA and NParks, users of the Rail Corridor and future self-proclaimed know-it-alls who have never been on the railway in Singapore would possibly say that KTM trains used to terminate at Kranji MRT Station, which is really weird. This explanation may even be further warped by fake historians, especially when linking with some self-created facts that the first railway in Singapore in 1903 was called the Singapore-Kranji Railway.

Perhaps a simple plaque or information panel consistent with the look of the rest of the Rail Corridor can be installed at the deviation point at Rail Corridor 20.6km, and at Kranji Node (which looks very empty, by the way), to explain that this section was opened in 2023, and is to provide convenience for accessibility, rather than being laid on the former railway alignment.

Such useful historical information on the Rail Corridor is already provided at Bukit Timah Railway Station, and Kranji Node has a lot of potential than just being a barren path for vehicle access with 1 distance marker sign only.