MICRO RESEARCH

SITE 1: TANJONG PAGAR FORMER RAILWAY STATION CAR PARK

Site Location For Site 1

Former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Car Park

Cantonment Road

Site Location For Site 1

Former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Car Park

Land Use: Commercial

GPR: 4.2

Building Profile: National monument

Lot No.:TS23-00693N

Planning Boundary: PABukit Merah PS Everton Park

Road|Green Buffer:Ayer Rajah Expressway (15m|5m)

Spottiswoode Park Road(5m|3m)

History Of Site 1

Former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Car Park

1) Early 1900s

The Singapore Railway Transfer Bill was passed by the Legislative Council on 14 October 1918. Constructed between 1929 and 1932, the station was officially opened by then Governor Cecil Clementi on 2 May 1932. The station’s location directly opposite the Tanjong Pagar docks facilitated the easy transfer of cargo between steamships and railway trains. Besides functioning as a train station, the building also housed the Singapore Manufacturers’ Exhibition in January 1932 prior to its official opening.

1) Late 1900s

To resolve the issue of railway land ownership, the Singapore and Malaysian governments signed a bilateral accord in 1990, known as the Points of Agreement, in which Malaysia agreed to vacate the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station in return for three parcels of land in Singapore. However, implementation of this deal stalled due to unresolved political differences.

1) Mid 1900s

After World War II, management of the Federated Malay States Railway (FMSR) was transferred to the Malayan Railway Administration and later KTM Berhad. As part of the separation agreement that Singapore signed with Malaysia in 1965, KTM Berhad was allowed to retain control of the railway land, meaning that Tanjong Pagar Railway Station became part of Malaysian sovereign territory. Arising from this arrangement, the station was gazetted as a checkpoint along with the customs checkpoint in Woodlands.

1) Early 2000s (2011)

On 8 April 2011, the Preservation of Monuments Board gazetted the building as a national monument. At 11 pm on 30 June 2011, under extensive media coverage, Sultan of Johor Ibrahim Iskandar piloted the last train’s departure from the station to Johor Baru Sentral in a ceremony witnessed by a large crowd. At the stroke of midnight, the station was officially closed, with its ownership transferred to the Singapore government.