NATURE AND PRESERVATION - MALAYSIA

Nature lovers want Rail Corridor to be preserved

Nature lovers want the former KTM railway land in Singapore to remain as an icon of past progress.
SINCE the cessation of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s (KTM) train services from Woodlands to Tanjung Pagar, Singapore, last July, nature lovers in the republic have been hoping the greenery along the stretch of land that was once a Rail Corridor will be preserved.

The stretch from Woodlands to Tanjung Pagar is 26km long, and if one includes the abandoned spur line from Bukit Timah to Jurong, the former railway land vacated by KTM forms a Y-shaped trail 40km long, while taking up an area that is close to 174ha (430 acres).

Not surprisingly, nature lovers see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to salvage a relatively undisturbed green patch that stretches from the north to the south of the island.

Vestige of the past: A last entry in the Mandai gatekeeper’s log is written on the door of the hut, which now lies derelict. Nature has reclaimed the surroundings of the former railway track. (Picture snapped on July 11, 2012.)

According to the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS), the abundance of various types of vegetation, ranging from large trees to shrubbery along the fringe of the former railway reserve, presents a great opportunity for a tropical rainforest to flourish, if the area is left to regenerate.

Greenies argue that the unbroken cover of greenery can serve as the “central green spine” of Singapore by linking up all the existing nature reserves and other patches of greenery to facilitate or encourage the movement of wildlife.

According to NSS, the large body of non-manicured greenery is now greater than the sum of all its parts. The organisation’s position is already well articulated at both government-sponsored events, as well as in the social media (see www.nss.org.sg/documents/TheGreenCorridor101103.pdf for a detailed view.)

Even when the trains were running, the land along the line was already used as a green corridor of sorts, as they linked areas that still harbour a significant degree of biodiversity such as the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the mangroves of Mandai.

This returfed stretch near the Kranji crossing would most likely have been covered in thick undergrowth by now. (Snapped three months after the KTM trains stopped running in Singapore.)

The corridor is expected to enhance the value of existing and future developments in adjacent areas, though it is felt that the Singapore government will inevitably have to strike a balance between the need for development and conservation.

Officially, it has been announced that all aspects will be considered in the development plans for the Rail Corridor: the green aspect, heritage and history, and innovative land use fusing development and conservation. Some foreign examples of successful preservation ventures include the redevelopment of New York’s High Line (The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side in New York, the United States) as well as Paris’s Promenade Plantée (The Promenade Plantée is a extensive green belt that follows the old Vincennes railway line in Paris, France).

On account of their historical significance, the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station has been preserved as a national monument, while the Bukit Timah Railway Station has been conserved.

Thankfully, Malaysia had agreed to leave behind two beautiful steel truss bridges near Bukit Timah, though it is sad that a few other shorter steel bridges were removed, thus robbing the corridor of a few solid icons that would have served as a reminder of the trains that used to run across the land.

With the cessation of KTM Bhd’s train services from Woodlands to Tanjung Pagar last July, nature lovers in the republic are clamouring for much of the greenery along the land to be preserved.

Singapore is currently collating feedback and ideas from the public on the future use of the conserved buildings, as well as how the land can be integrated with future developments. The aim is to get the Rail Corridor plans up in time to be exhibited together with the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s draft master plan next year.

In her foreword in NSS’s report on the Rail Corridor, Dr Geh Min, the immediate past president, said: “The least challenging and most unimaginative ‘solution’ would be for policy makers, planners and developers to parcel the land out as real estate, dismantle the line, erase the railway and its memory from the public domain and relegate it to textbook history. That would be a costly mistake. Much of Singapore’s natural and man-made heritage has been jettisoned as excess baggage in our rush to transform ourselves from a Third to a First World country.

“A more inclusive and considered approach would have recognised their value as ballast in nation-building and sustainable development, and while attempts are now being made to restore some of them at great expense (like the ecolink between Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment), many are irretrievably lost.

“This proposal for the KTM railway should not be viewed as a barrier to development. After all, the railway has been a symbol of progress in the past and should continue to be so. Rather, we feel that by exploring more creative, sensitive and inclusive ways to utilise the railway and its land, we would be enhancing rather than reducing its value. In a country searching desperately for genuine icons it would be a tragedy to destroy this potent symbol of connectivity and inclusive progress.”

More information on the Rail Corridor can be seen at www.ura.gov.sg/railcorridor, www.thegreencorridor.org and thelongnwindingroad. wordpress.com