Flood of ideas for railway land use

Grace Chua Straits Times 4 Oct 11;

FROM transforming disused train carriages into eateries to setting up community farms, ideas have been pouring in about what to do with the former Malaysian railway land.

Other suggestions include using the 26km stretch from Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar as a bicycle highway and creating a nature reserve in the Mandai mangrove swamp.

Some of the 400 or so ideas by interest groups, designers, and architecture and landscaping students went on show yesterday to generate feedback from the public.

'What you can see is how Singaporeans are coming on board, being interested,' Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin said at the opening of the free exhibition.

He added that the displays would encourage people to become curious about the Rail Corridor project and understand it from a design, heritage and ecological perspective.

The narrow strip of land was returned to Singapore three months ago after being used as a railway for about 80 years, most recently by Malaysian operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu.

Civic interest groups are keen to preserve it because of its heritage and environmental value.

The station in Tanjong Pagar has already been designated as a national monument, while the smaller one in Bukit Timah is a conserved building.

Brigadier-General (NS) Tan said the wide range of ideas would have to be combined into a coherent plan.

He added that a 'narrative' was likely to be put together next year, with a draft development plan unveiled in 2013.

The Re-imagining the Rail Corridor exhibition is being held at the URA Centre Gallery in Maxwell Road until Oct28.

Walk down KTM memory lane at Rail Corridor
Channel NewsAsia 3 Oct 11;

SINGAPORE: An exhibition that explores several ideas on how different pockets of space at the former Malaysian railway land can be used was held on Monday.

The initiative is part of a series of events dedicated to increasing public awareness of the tract of KTM railway land returned to Singapore.

Called "Re-Imagining the Rail Corridor" the exhibition showcased some preliminary ideas from architecture and landscape students as well as design professionals.

Minister of State for National Development Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin, who chairs the Rail Corridor Consultation Group, said he hopes the final design will incorporate all ideas that the Urban Redevelopment Authority has been receiving.

Members of the public can give feedback on development plans for the railway land at URA's website

By early next year, a design competition will be held on how the land space can used.

And in 2013, a draft masterplan will be unveiled.

The exhibition centered around themes of ecology, heritage, recreation, transport, education and community gardening.

Some ideas in the exhibition included a bridge that turns into a giant see-saw, a skate park in Queensway and an epicentre for cyclists in Tanjong Pagar.

Colin Seah, director of design at Ministry of Design, said: " We believe that (the) culture of cycling, feeling of wanting to be outdoors, love for nature - these are things that Singaporeans enjoy. The railway line allows us to explore that even further."

Steve Huang, architecture student at the National University of Singapore, said: "We found that near to Queensway, there is a culture that is very gritty. We saw a lot of graffiti along the way there. We think it's possible to have a culture for these skateboarders."

The exhibition will be held at The URA Cente Atrium from 3 to 28 October 2011.

BG (NS) Tan also announced at the exhibition that the former railway land will be named Rail Corridor.

He said the working name for the former railway land by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) was one of the top three most suggested project names received via a website inviting suggestions from members of the public.

The other two were Rail Trail and Green Corridor.

He said the Rail Corridor Consultation Group met to discuss the suggestions and arrived at a consensus on 'Rail Corridor'.

Blogger Jerome Lim, who is a member of the group, said the name "reflects the history and heritage of the land".

- CNA/ck