Bukit Panjang railway station explained

Bukit Panjang
Status:Demolished
Country:Singapore
Platforms:1
Original:Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Opened:Between July and December 1903[1]
Closed:Unknown date
Other Services Header:Former services

Bukit Panjang railway station was a railway station on the Singapore-Kranji Railway which served Bukit Panjang from 1903 to an unknown date.

History

Bukit Panjang railway station was opened to the public on sometime between July and December 1903, on Choa Chu Kang Road,[2] along Bukit Timah Road,[3] as an infill station between Bukit Timah station and Woodlands station.[4] [5] The station was built near the military exercise camp and range, and helped the surrounding neighbourhoods develop, as it attracted residents. The station was also near a rubber plantation.[6] A post office was built at the station on 21 March 1924,[7] and opened on 1 April 1924.[8]

As it was decided that Tank Road station was unfit to be the terminus of the line, it was decided that the Bukit Timah-Tank Road section of the line would be abandoned, and the line would instead deviate in between Bukit Panjang station and Bukit Timah station, travelling down a different route which ran along the west of the main town, to a new terminal station at Tanjong Pagar,[9] with a new station being built at Bukit Timah, and two new stations at Tanglin and Alexandra.[10] In November 1955, a new service was introduced in which lorries would arrive at the station in the morning and in the evening to bring people to and fro from work from the station. This was introduced due to the low ridership of the station.[11]

By 1984 the station had already been abandoned and demolished. The site was one of several possible locations for a railbus station for the railbus line that the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) planned to build in Singapore.[12]

Incidents

On 26 November 1921, a man was run over and killed by an oncoming train near the station. The body of the man was mutilated and very badly cut up.[13]

Notes and References

  1. News: . 11 December 1903. Untitled. The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  2. Web site: Historical Maps of Singapore. . NUS Libraries. National University of Singapore. 28 March 2022.
  3. News: . 15 September 1909. Sale of Properties. The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  4. News: . 26 December 1948. The Singapore-Kranji Railway. The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  5. News: Lai. Kai Joo. 30 July 1971. Putting the record straight. New Nation. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  6. News: . 19 December 1912. Bukit Panjang Rubber Estate. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  7. Book: . 1925. Blue Book for the Year .... Singapore. U.S. Government Printing Office. 8.
  8. News: . 22 March 1924. Untitled. The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  9. News: Chandy. Gloria. 30 April 1979. Once, Singapore connection crossed over the Johore Straits by steam ferries. New Nation. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  10. News: . 2 May 1932. The new railway deviation. Malaya Tribune. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  11. News: . 27 November 1955. This May Mean 'Go by Train' to Work. The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  12. News: Soh. Victor. 31 July 1984. All Aboard the Johor-Singapore Railbus.... The Singapore Monitor. Singapore. 27 March 2022.
  13. News: . 2 December 1921. Untitled. Malaya Tribune. Singapore. 27 March 2022.