Eighteen more days to makan and take photos of KTMB Tanjong Pagar Singapura before we declare it "close shop" for good.
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Thursday June 9, 2011
Party plans on track for last train ride to Tanjong Pagar
SINGAPORE: When the KTM Berhad train pulls into the Tanjong Pagar railway station for the last time on June 30, close to 70 passengers will be on board in party hats and popping bottles of champagne.
Friends and history buffs Jerome Lim, 46, Clarissa Tan, 39, and Pooja Makhijani, 33, are organising a sending-off party of sorts on board the train to commemorate the historic occasion.
The trio plan to take the last train into the Tanjong Pagar railway station, which departs from Segamat railway station in Johor at 5.59pm, and travel four hours back to Singapore.
The idea for the party was conceived online via a single tweet. After reading an entry on Lim's blog on May 18 about taking the final train ride into the station, Tan tweeted about the possibility of joining him and organising a “party”.
Both Pooja and Lim spread the word by blogging about the event and inviting members of the public.
They also started a Facebook page, The Last Train Into Tanjong Pagar, which has accumulated over 80 fans since it was created a week ago.
Tan said: “Everyone is responsible for getting his own ticket for the train ride and getting on that train. But once we're all on board, that's when the party starts.”
Approximately 70 people are expected to join them in the festivities which will include potluck finger food, champagne and singing.
It was announced last year that KTM will move its train services to the Woodlands train checkpoint from July 1.
The historic Tanjong Pagar railway station, which opened in 1932, holds many memories for Tan.
Born in Kuala Lumpur, the freelance journalist first came to Singapore at 15 to further her studies.
“It was here at the platform where my mother and I said our goodbyes to each other,” she recalled.
On the station's move to Woodlands, Lim said: “When the trains pull into Woodlands, we won't see the amazing landscape anymore. Especially those undiscovered parts of Singapore, such as the stretch between Holland Road and King Albert Park, which you would only get to experience when the train makes its way to the Tanjong Pagar station.” - The Straits Times/Asia News Network