KTM Jurong Line
| Landmarks Truss Bridge Coordinates: 1.322585N, 103.767635E Description: Bridge over Ulu Pandan Canal AYE bridge Coordinates: 1.322241N, 103.751929E Description: Remains of the railway bridge Tunnel Coordinates: 1.323271N, 103.745717E Description: Tunnel under AYE / Jurong Town Hall Road |
UPDATE
Yeah, I haven't updated this blog in almost a year and a half. In fact, I almost forgot that this existed. Over the past year I have visited a couple more places and in fact I have quite a few places that I intend to explore. Right now I intend to continue my "Exploring the Unexplored" series by posting some of the abandoned / less known areas which I have been to in the past year or two.We will start off this revival with Singapore's lesser known rail trail. Many of you should be familiar with the KTM railway line that was converted into a Green Corridor. Branching off the corridor is a lesser-known Jurong Line. The Jurong Line was an extension of the Keratapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) rail that was constructed in 1965, and aimed to provide rail freight service to the Jurong Port. Eventually, the line was demolished in 1993, and has been abandoned ever since then. Very little remains of the line, except for the occasional remnants of rail and signal equipment. In fact, many segments of the line have been built over, and other segments are filled with dense vegetation.
Route
Sunset Way
The route begins through a rather iconic little town known as Sunset Way. Sunset way is a little neighbourhood in the outskirts of Clementi Town. I got there by boarding one of these buses from Clementi Station:
Begin your journey with like some... bread?
The steel truss bridge that hangs over the main road is where we shall begin our journey.
Get onto the trail by ascending the hill on the left side of the road (the side which I am on). The track on the right side is so overgrown in vegetation that it is very difficult to traverse.
The view of the bridge from the trail:
Further ahead, we will arrive at the larger truss bridge over the Ulu Pandan Canal.
One common misconception many people have is that if the SLA puts up a sign saying "Danger: Keep Out", you can't enter.
Panomaric view of the new, beautified Ulu Pandan Canal
After you cross the bridge, you would arrive at a section of trail which still has tracks on it. This is one of the very few sections of the trail that still has its tracks intact.
Remnants of a pedestrian crossing
As we follow the tracks, we eventually reach a point where the tracks are overgrown by grass, and eventually the trail stops at a road (Faber Walk). That section of trail has been long replaced by the Faber estate. At this point, we will get off the trail and go onto the Ulu Pandan Park connector, and follow the park connector until we reach a bridge that crosses the Pandan River. If you look closely, you would see a steel and concrete framework resting under the pedestrian bridge. That once was the bridge that carried freight trains over the Pandan River, and has since been built over by a pedestrian bridge during an improvement project to the Park Connector.
Old railway bridge built over by a pedestrian bridge
The bridge
From here onwards, you would have to walk along the AYE. Most of the trail has been covered in vegetation and the only way to proceed is to walk on the right side of the expressway. Alternatively, you could take a slight detour before resuming the route at Teban Gardens.
Not very far away we would run into our very first tunnel - which is under the intersection between the AYE and Jurong Town Hall Road.
You can see a little community farming project that is skirting the trail:
It appears someone tried to make the space under the flyover his home and got evicted.
There are still remnants of furniture under the flyover.
After exiting the trail at Teban Gardens, I carried on a bit further along the AYE until I arrived at the point where the trail branches off (1.324517, 103.725975). At that point, I was not sure if the trail was worth walking anymore, besides, the grass was very tall and very wet. Beyond this is just a lot of factories, until you reach the station at the very end of the trail. If you view this area under satellite view, it is very interesting to see how all the factories were largely built around the rail line, and you can see a very distinctive contour that marks where the rail line used to be. In fact, you can see quite a number of roads have been built along the shape of the track because it was just so convenient. I did not visit the Jurong terminal station, which I am pretty sure no longer exists. Even so, I still quite like this trail for its rustic feel and natural quality.
Begin your journey with like some... bread?
The steel truss bridge that hangs over the main road is where we shall begin our journey.
Get onto the trail by ascending the hill on the left side of the road (the side which I am on). The track on the right side is so overgrown in vegetation that it is very difficult to traverse.
The view of the bridge from the trail:
Further ahead, we will arrive at the larger truss bridge over the Ulu Pandan Canal.
One common misconception many people have is that if the SLA puts up a sign saying "Danger: Keep Out", you can't enter.
Panomaric view of the new, beautified Ulu Pandan Canal
After you cross the bridge, you would arrive at a section of trail which still has tracks on it. This is one of the very few sections of the trail that still has its tracks intact.
Remnants of a pedestrian crossing
As we follow the tracks, we eventually reach a point where the tracks are overgrown by grass, and eventually the trail stops at a road (Faber Walk). That section of trail has been long replaced by the Faber estate. At this point, we will get off the trail and go onto the Ulu Pandan Park connector, and follow the park connector until we reach a bridge that crosses the Pandan River. If you look closely, you would see a steel and concrete framework resting under the pedestrian bridge. That once was the bridge that carried freight trains over the Pandan River, and has since been built over by a pedestrian bridge during an improvement project to the Park Connector.
Old railway bridge built over by a pedestrian bridge
The bridge
From here onwards, you would have to walk along the AYE. Most of the trail has been covered in vegetation and the only way to proceed is to walk on the right side of the expressway. Alternatively, you could take a slight detour before resuming the route at Teban Gardens.
Not very far away we would run into our very first tunnel - which is under the intersection between the AYE and Jurong Town Hall Road.
You can see a little community farming project that is skirting the trail:
It appears someone tried to make the space under the flyover his home and got evicted.
There are still remnants of furniture under the flyover.
After exiting the trail at Teban Gardens, I carried on a bit further along the AYE until I arrived at the point where the trail branches off (1.324517, 103.725975). At that point, I was not sure if the trail was worth walking anymore, besides, the grass was very tall and very wet. Beyond this is just a lot of factories, until you reach the station at the very end of the trail. If you view this area under satellite view, it is very interesting to see how all the factories were largely built around the rail line, and you can see a very distinctive contour that marks where the rail line used to be. In fact, you can see quite a number of roads have been built along the shape of the track because it was just so convenient. I did not visit the Jurong terminal station, which I am pretty sure no longer exists. Even so, I still quite like this trail for its rustic feel and natural quality.
