Malayan Railway (KTM) Land in Singapore
01/08/10
I travelled by train between Malaysia and Singapore
for the first time in May 2010 and got to experience
firsthand the rather unconventional border crossings
that have been properly summrised in Wikipedia as follows:
* Towards Singapore, Malaysian immigration officers carry out immigration clearance on board the train at Johor Bahru railway station. After clearing immigration, the train crosses the causeway and stops at WTCP, where all passengers must proceed to Singapore Customs and Immigration. Therefore, travellers entering Singapore by rail are following the correct order of immigration clearance, that is, exit granted by Malaysian Immigration in Johor and entry granted by Singapore Immigration in Woodlands. After clearing immigration at Woodlands, passengers may disembark or continue their journey to Tanjong Pagar by train.
* Towards Malaysia, passengers must board the train at Tanjong Pagar and clear Malaysian Customs and Immigration before boarding. The train travels about 30 minutes to WTCP and stops for another 30 minutes to allow sufficient time for passengers to clear Singapore Immigration. In this case, passengers are granted entry into Malaysia before clearing Singapore Immigration, which is contrary to international practice. To circumvent this problem, Malaysian immigration officers do not stamp on passengers' passports.
Related links:
* Towards Singapore, Malaysian immigration officers carry out immigration clearance on board the train at Johor Bahru railway station. After clearing immigration, the train crosses the causeway and stops at WTCP, where all passengers must proceed to Singapore Customs and Immigration. Therefore, travellers entering Singapore by rail are following the correct order of immigration clearance, that is, exit granted by Malaysian Immigration in Johor and entry granted by Singapore Immigration in Woodlands. After clearing immigration at Woodlands, passengers may disembark or continue their journey to Tanjong Pagar by train.
* Towards Malaysia, passengers must board the train at Tanjong Pagar and clear Malaysian Customs and Immigration before boarding. The train travels about 30 minutes to WTCP and stops for another 30 minutes to allow sufficient time for passengers to clear Singapore Immigration. In this case, passengers are granted entry into Malaysia before clearing Singapore Immigration, which is contrary to international practice. To circumvent this problem, Malaysian immigration officers do not stamp on passengers' passports.
Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
is the current KTM terminal in Singapore
(05/2010)
The station was opened in 1932 and
nicely decorated with sculptures and murals
(05/2010)
The reason behind the bizarre immigration procedure
is that the Malayan Railway (Keretapi Tanah Melayu,
KTM) land in Singapore was leased to the Federated
Malay States by the Straits Settlement government
then under a 1918 colonial ordinance for 999 years
(The Star, Malaysian Insider) and the
status of the KTM land has been subject of
dispute after the separation of both
countries. A breakthrough in the impasse was
made recently with the signing of a historic
agreement on 24 May 2010. The KTM Singapore
terminal will be moved from the current one in
Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands nearer to the
border by 1 Jul 2011, hence, freeing up the
KTM land for joint development by both
countries in the future.
Related links:
- The Malaysian Insider: KL
agrees to vacate historic Singapore train
station
Excerpted from The Malaysian Insider (Full Article)
- New Straits Times: KTMB's
Tanjong Pagar station moves to Woodland
- The Star: Najib and Lee all
smiles after sealing KTMB land deal
- The Straits Times: Tg Pagar station to move