If you haven’t already been to the iconic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, then be sure to check out their last ever open house on Christmas Day (Dec 25) this year. The open house will be from 9am to 9pm; admission is free.
In its final open house, there will be an all-day Christmas market complete with food and drinks, as well as live music performances in the evening by cappella group NUS Resonance (from 5pm) and the Richard Jackson jazz quartet (from 7pm). You can also donate to the Community Chest, as well as donate used toys and books to beneficiaries supported by the Chest.
The TPRS will then be closed for the construction of the Cantonment MRT (Circle Line), which is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
Brief History of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
Opened on 2 May 1932 by then Governor of Singapore, Sir Cecil Clementi, the TPRS was envisioned to be part of a rail network that would stretch to France (Calais), China (Hankou) and onwards to the Trans-Siberian network.
Its key feature is the 3-storey-high vaulted space at the main hall which was designed to provide a pleasant temperature at all times. At one time, there used to be a 34-room hotel on the upper storeys. Keen artists will note that the building features Neo-Classical and Art-Deco influences – its front facade features four heroic sculptures representing the four sources of wealth of Singapore and Malaya (at the time): Agriculture, Commerce, Transport and Industry.
Prior to 1998, rail passengers between Johor and Singapore didn’t need to disembark at Woodlands Checkpoint or in JB for immigration clearance; there were Malaysian and Singaporean immigration services at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.
In 2011 when the TPRS shuttered its doors, the last train out of that station was driven by Sultan Ibrahim Ismail of Johor, whose grandfather, Ismail of Johor, had opened the causeway between Singapore and Malaya in 1923.
