KL trip by rail - part two

Finally after some planning, the trip was confirmed to be on the 24th June. Six of us would take an overnight sleeper train that would leave Tanjong Pagar at 10.30pm, reaching Kuala Lumpur at 6.30am the following morning, and would return home via a train departing KL Sentral at 2.07pm and arriving at Tanjong Pagar at 9.10pm at night.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

Some people might think I was stupid to come up with such a plan, because we would only be spending 7 hours in Kuala Lumpur. My reasons for doing so were simple: 1) The main focus of this trip was the train ride anyway, not Kuala Lumpur. 2) As what many had said, and that I had come to realise later, there was actually nothing much to see in Kuala Lumpur. 3) Kept things simple and travel costs low by doing away with hotel booking.

On the night of 24th June we arrived early at the railway station, only for me to be surprised by the large number of people there compared to the previous times I were there. Even though it was already night time, many people were still there to take photos of the station or eat from the food stalls there.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

Since there was still time, we went around the station taking photos. I liked how the station looked at night. There was a different feel to it as compared to the daytime station.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

The 2nd class sleeper cars consisted of two rows of beds along a single aisle in the middle. There were upper and lower berth beds, and a curtain was the only thing separating you from random strangers walking up or down the aisle. Toilets were at both ends of each carriage.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

A pillow was all that was provided; beds were comfortable and clean enough, though there was the odd cockroach running around. Sleeping during the ride was overall ok, although the rumbling and shaking meant that uninterrupted sleep was not quite possible. Overnight trains ran slower compared to daytime trains, taking about 8 hours to reach KL, which was the following morning.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

I liked the entire idea of KL Sentral. Basically it is this huge interchange station, built to resemble an airport, where commuters can swtich between different lines that serve KL, like the intercity which we took from Singapore, different transit lines run by different operators, and airport links taking commuters to and from the airport. Only the monorail is not within this station, requiring a 15 min walk by foot, but it is still nearby nonetheless.

After breakfast at the station my friends and I set off for our first destination, the Petronas Tower. Despite living in Singapore for more than 22 years, it was the first time I stepped foot in KL, and hence my first time seeing the twin towers. Getting tickets to enter the SkyBridge for a bird's eye view of KL was next to impossible, so we had to be content with photos at the ground level.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

Our next stop was Chinatown, which was a little disappointing, not because we were early and many shops were not open yet, but because it didn't seem to resemble any 'Chinatown'. Perhaps I was subconsciously comparing it to our Chinatown. After a trip down to nearby Central Market, it was off to Bukit Bintang for lunch at A&W, and home!

The afternoon train home, being a daytime train, did not have beds, and we had to settle with back facing seats. Seats meant that we had rather limited legroom and did not have much space to move around unlike beds.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

In between short naps I looked at the sceneries passed me by as the train moved down south.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

I got reminded of the times I was young where I took the coach with my family to visit my uncle and his family in Kuantan, because I was more or less staring at the same stuff outside the window. It has been more than ten years since I last took a coach to visit them; it seemed like nothing much has changed.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

Each station along the track has a sign that states the name of the station, plus the adjacent stations. That was one of the more unique signs I saw.

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

From Kuala Lumpur by train

One can easily notice that many of the stations spot similar designs, simple and minimalist. They probably reflect what the commoners there see rail as: just another form of transport, unlike us making a big hoo-ha over it as the Singapore stretch of the network shuts down. Haha.

As the Sun set I made a trip down to the buffet car two carriages away from where I was sitting. It was a pity food and hot drinks were no longer sold by the time I got there; I could only get my hands on a pathetic can of coffee. And I left my camera on my seat so I couldn't take any photos of the car itself.

Still I enjoyed that short amount of time I spent sitting in the buffet car. Perhaps because there were less people there, and the design and layout of the seats made me feel less..constricted.

We finally reached Tanjong Pagar at around 10pm, almost an hour later than scheduled. With that we ended our little crazy adventure to KL and back in 24 hours. As for me, I am glad that I have accomplished this little wish of mine to board and alight a train from Tanjong Pagar before it closed. Many people don't see the closure as a big deal, but I see it as an end to an important chapter of our history.

I have enjoyed this trip alot, and I certainly hope this will not be an one-off thing. The problem will be to find someone willing to go on adventures with me. Someone forever.

KL trip by rail - part one

As I typed this entry out, the last KTM train had already left Singapore shores, ending Tanjong Pagar Railway Station's 80 years of service in the rail transport between Singapore and Malaysia.

From Railway exploration

The closure of the railway station probably meant little to many people, especially to the younger generations of Singaporeans where history means nothing to them, and to the many Malaysians who use KTM trains to traverse between workplace and home on a daily basis, and simply see them as another mode of transport. To them, life goes on after today, KTM trains continue to run in Malaysia, nothing has changed.

To be honest, the closure of the station doesn't affect me much either. I don't travel to Malaysia often, and even if I do, I can do so by plane, by bus, or by hopping on the train at Woodlands Train Checkpoint. I will probably never feel as much as those who used the station to commute between the two countries, or couples who first met at the station, or students who came here all alone in search of better lives.

From Railway exploration

I am, however, quite a bit of a history lover, and I have always been disappointed at how Singapore chooses to tear down meaningful old buildings for another condominium or shopping mall, or on paper, conserves the building, but in actual fact only keeps exteriors untouched but alters the interiors to look nothing like what it was before. I do understand the need for Singapore to keep up with development, but sometimes I wish things can just slow down a little.

Moreover the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, together with the accompanying Bukit Timah Railway Station and the entire stretch in Singapore, are more than just buildings and bridges and tracks. If the Tiger on our Coat of Arms is a symbolic representation of Singapore's historical links with Malaysia, then the railway station must be the physical representation.

From Railway exploration

More than just a railway station, Tanjong Pagar is a physical example of this interesting and important but complex and delicate relationship that the two countries struggles to maintain. In a place where people cross borders by entering the destination country before leaving the host country, in a place where it is located in a land mass with clearly defined borders belonging to one country, yet the very land it sits on belongs to a neighbouring country, in a place where one feels like he has just went back in time the moment he steps in because of all the differences in architecture, style, feel, etc, it takes more than a short history lesson to understand how and why all these came about.

From Railway exploration

Lastly, this is also in line with a little wish of mine I made at the start of the year to see more of Singapore. I would love to travel around the world in my lifetime [starting with my Student Exchange Programme which I really hope I can go], and I think I shouldn't go around understanding other countries if I don't know my own one well yet.

My plans to take the train came as early as last year when news about the closure first broke out. Having never taken a train before, I did not want the station to close before I even had a chance to board one from there. But the plans did not materialise until this year when my friend suggested going to the station to take photos.

From Railway exploration

My original plan involved taking a train up the East on the so-called Jungle Line, apparently because it is a more scenic route, and my destination were to be a small town near Kuantan where an uncle of mine lived. I used to go there when I was very young, but I have practically zero recollection of the place now, so I want to go there again. Unfortunately the Jungle Line doesn't really pass by there, and I don't think I can convince anyone to make the trip with me. To keep things simple and travel costs low, I therefore settled for an easier-to-plan but less scenic ride on the West Coast Line instead.

Besides the actual train ride I also went to 'walk the grounds' with another group of friends, twice, covering the two railway stations, and various level crossings where rails and roads intersect.

From Railway exploration

The first thing we noticed when we entered Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was how poorly ventilated it was. There were neither air-conditioning nor fans, just doors. I joked that when the station was first built in 1932 there were no signs of global warming yet. But I guessed that the station was not meant for people to stay for an extended period of time, but just a place for people to depart or arrive and leave. Yet within the station there exists intricate pieces of art, from wall murals to stone figures, these pieces depict the major pillars of the Malayan economy in the olden days, adding culture and depth to an otherwise lifeless building, and very well contradicts my earlier statement that its not a place one stays to appreciate them.

From Railway exploration

By contrast, Bukit Timah Railway Station looks like a godforsaken building hidden away from view. Walking along the main road one can only see the short but nonetheless magnificent steel bridge; the only hint of a railway station nearby is a insignificant signboard that has been vandalised.

From Railway exploration

From Railway exploration

Bukit Timah Railway Station might not have the prestige and elegance of its bigger cousin at Tanjong Pagar, but it stands on its own with a quiet and calming effect without any of the city hustle and bustle that we are already so used to. Or at least that was the case when I was there the first time on a weekday where there were no one else around.

From Bukit Brown Cemetery + Bukit Timah Railway Station

The second time I went on a weekend, and it felt like a tourist attraction.

Although no longer used by commuters to board or alight from the train, the station was still staffed with a friendly KTM station master whose job was to ensure that there was only one train on the single track that ran the majority of the Singapore stretch. It is there where he passed the famous ring token to a passing train to indicate that the track was free for use. If the track was not available, the train would stop on a secondary track at the station to wait for its turn.

From Railway exploration

From Railway exploration

The signalling room where the station master directs trains to move to which track

The first time I was there, the train went past the station with such speed that I was slightly taken aback from all the turbulence. There was no such thing the second time because the train slowed down for the safety of many there to take photos.

There were five [I think] level crossings in Singapore where trains crossed our roads. KTM personnel were stationed at these crossings, and whenever a train were to cross, these personnel would direct the traffic, either automatically or manually, to ensure trains could cross safely.

From Railway exploration

From Railway exploration

Example of a manual crossing where the KTM personnel would manually push the gates to block off the road.

From Railway exploration

From Railway exploration

An automatic crossing where a push of a button brought the barriers down and changed the traffic lights accordingly.

From Railway exploration

From Railway exploration

Another automatic crossing. Its a small but busy road.

Unfortunately we did not have all the time in the world to wait for a train to pass. These train crossings are a rare sight in Singapore and with the closure of the Singapore stretch of the rail network, we can never see these train crossings in action anymore.