Singapore HeritageFest 2023: A Brief History of Transport Networks in Singapore’s Urban Landscape

On the evening of Friday 12 May, as part of this year’s Singapore HeritageFest, I gave a talk on 200 years of Singapore transport and urban history.

Like previous talks, it drew on material from my book Jalan Singapura: 700 Years of Movement in Singapore. This time, however, I included findings from ongoing research for my next book.

I also introduced audience engagement, inviting them to answer two questions on their mobile phones:

1. What is one enduring memory you have of Singapore land transport, which no longer exists?

Some answers:

- Riding Bendy Buses in eastern Singapore

The Bendy Bus used to run in Tampines as part of Bus Service 67. Credit: Shankar S.

- The “ding dong” speed limit warning in the old Crown / Cedric taxis

- The train from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands and beyond

Photo credit: EquatorialSky2.

- The first railway track! In one of the walking tours, I was brought to this underpass near the pinnacle hdb, I was told this was part of the first railway track. That was what led me to do my own reading up on it, and Eisen’s book shed useful insight in this area

- The old non-air-conditioned SBS buses with the sliding windows. If you didn’t close them on time or couldn’t close them when it rained, the rain will fall and collect on the tracks of the sliding windows and dribble onto the seat and onto the floor which I remember was the industrial aluminium flooring with the anti-slip pattern

2. What is your biggest wish for Singapore transport / urban development?

Some answers:

- Can eat (on public transport)

- To not further disrupt the nature for more roads and mrt networks

- 24 hour public transport

- magnetic levitation

- Bike path connecting each district

- More diverse rail transit modes like bringing back trams, use of monorails beyond Sentosa, etc…

- A wider variety of bus models please

- Abolishment of “Jaywalking” for more pedestrian friendly streets

- ...I would love to see a museum of transport in Singapore with life size vintage vehicles

I wish Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was converted into Singapore's very own museum of transport. Credit: Alicereneztay.

Hear, hear!

Entering Verdun House

In April, a mixed-use building in the Jalan Besar area was sold en bloc.

Verdun House, a four-storey development made up of four shops and food and beverage outlets on the ground floor, and 12 apartments in the upper floors, was sold to Fragrance Group for $55.1 million.

This was the building’s third attempt at a collective sale since 2018.

Verdun House was completed in 1982, making it 40 years old this year - but it will not last much longer.

The building, at the corner of Verdun Road and Sam Leong Road, was named after the former.

Verdun Road itself was named in the late 1920s, as part of a municipal naming exercise to commemorate World War I, which had ended just a decade before. This is shared in my book, Jalan Singapura.

At the time, Singapore was a British possession, so it was par for the course for the authorities to name new roads after all things British.

Hence, after a cluster of new roads were laid down in the Jalan Besar area, from Lavender Street in the north to Syed Alwi Road in the south, they were named after prominent World War I battle sites in which British and French forces fought, or British and French generals and admirals who had served.

Generals and admirals included Allenby, Beatty, Foch, Fisher, French, Hamilton, Horne, Jellicoe, Kitchener, Maude, Petain, Plumer, Sturdee, and Townshend.

Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850-1916), British Army.

Henri Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), French Army.

Battle sites included Flanders, Marne, Mons, Somme, and of course Verdun. Falkland and Jutland were naval battle sites.

French troops fighting at the Battle of Verdun, 1916.

The HMS Queen Mary blowing up during the Battle of Jutland, 1916.

After almost a hundred years, these roads have held up pretty well in the face of continuous urban renewal and redevelopment.

This is a map of the Jalan Besar area in 1932; the World War I commemorative roads are highlighted blue.

Base picture credit: Survey Department, Singapore.

This is the same area in 2022. The roads which have remained the same are highlighted blue; the roads which have changed in terms of name or alignment are highlighted red.

Base picture credit: Streetdirectory.com.

Here is a list of the roads and how they have changed since the 1920s:

• Allenby Road - remained the same.

• Beatty Road - lengthened to Race Course Road; parallel channels were merged into one; part of Jutland Road was renamed Beatty Road; the easternmost part of Beatty Road was renamed Beatty Lane.

• Foch Road - same.

• Fisher Road - renamed Tyrwhitt Road (after another Royal Navy admiral) in 1932; remained the same.

• French Road - partially realigned to accommodate flats.

• Hamilton Road - same.

• Horne Road - same.

• Jellicoe Road - realigned to accommodate developments such as flats, V Hotel Lavender, and Jalan Besar Community Club.

• Kitchener Road - the stretch southeast of King George’s Road was expunged for flats.

• Maude Road - the stretch southeast of King George’s Road was expunged for flats.

• Petain Road - same.

• Plumer Road - same.

• Sturdee Road - sliced in two and partially expunged to accommodate condominiums; the western part was renamed Sturdee Road North; part of the eastern half was realigned; part of Jutland Road was renamed Sturdee Road.

• Townshend Road - lengthened to Kelantan Lane.

• Flanders Square - there were two Flanders Squares; both were partially expunged for City Square Mall and City Square Residences; the eastern one was renamed Kitchener Link.

• Marne Road - most of it was expunged for City Square Mall.

• Mons Road - expunged. The place name has disappeared.

• Somme Road - much of it was expunged for City Square Residences.

• Verdun Road - the stretch north of Kitchener Road was renamed Kitchener Link.

• Falkland Road - expunged for Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre. The place name has disappeared.

• Jutland Road - renamed Beatty and Sturdee roads. The place name has disappeared.

This stretch of Sturdee Road and Beatty Road was once Jutland Road. Credit: Google Maps.

***

Back to Verdun House.

I paid a visit to the building to take in the architecture of the 1980s.

There were several restaurants and a 24-hour minimart on the ground floor.

How did one access the upper-floor apartments? By going behind the building. There were driveways off Verdun Road and Sam Leong Road which allowed vehicles to drive in and out.

There were lots for apartment owners and tenants to park their vehicles.

The building was organised in an interesting fashion: There were two separate staircases leading up to the fourth floor. For the first staircase, there were two units on each floor; the first floor had Units 6 and 8, the second floor had 6A and 8A; the third floor had 6B and 8B; the top floor had 6C and 8C. For the second staircase, the first floor had Units 10 and 12; the second floor had 10A and 12A; the third floor had 10B and 12B; the top floor had 10C and 12C.

In all, Verdun House had four addresses: 6, 8, 10, and 12 Verdun Road.

Every lift landing and staircase had old-school wall and floor tiles.

Old-school lift buttons...

... and old-school lifts.

Units 6C and 8C at the top floor. The lift landings were small and claustrophobic.

Verdun Road - almost a hundred years old and named in honour of a bloody battlefield half a world away - will live on, but its flagship landmark will be replaced soon.

Carving out the North-South Corridor

The North-South Corridor, Singapore’s 11th expressway, is currently being built across the width of the island. There is a line of construction sites stretching 21 kilometres from Woodlands in the north to Marina Bay in the south, and it will take another four years before the expressway opens in 2026. It will be Singapore’s costliest expressway, with a price tag of up to $8 billion.

The expressway will be a crucial transport link connecting the towns of Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, and Toa Payoh with the City. Hence, construction has to take place inside built-up areas. I am interested in the impact of expressway construction on these towns, and as it will take another four years, this period is a good chance to track changes in the suburban landscape.

The northern stretch covering Sembawang and Yishun will be an aboveground viaduct, which will transition to an underground tunnel as Yishun gives way to Ang Mo Kio.

I recently explored the construction sites running down the width of Ang Mo Kio town. Travelling south to north, I covered stretches of Marymount Road and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, from Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to Yio Chu Kang MRT Station.

Below is a map of Ang Mo Kio town; the yellow line is the future North-South Corridor. Virtually the entire line is a continuous stretch of construction sites; I spent an afternoon travelling along the line, taking photos and notes.

Base picture credit: Streetdirectory.com.

Along Marymount Road.

Marymount Road, facing north, approaching the junction with Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1. The area adjoining the road is adorned by Singapore’s national bird, the (construction) crane.

The junction of Marymount Road and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, facing north. Marymount Road is temporarily curved because of construction. Residents living around this junction will have to endure this state of affairs for up to 2030 - after the North-South Corridor is done, Teck Ghee MRT Station of the Cross Island Line will have to be built.

Marymount Road, facing south, between Sin Ming Avenue (background) and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 (foreground), from the 30th and top floor of Block 310A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1. The curves in the once-straight road are apparent here.

The junction of Marymount Road and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, facing south. The flats of Bishan town lie in the background.

The junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 and Street 24, facing south, from the 11th and top floor of Block 203 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. Here, piling and other work were going on right next to the block of flats; the cranes felt so close to me I could have touched them with a pole. I felt sorry for the residents trapped by the constant cacophony.

A colourful sound barrier in front of Block 119 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.

Construction sites next to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, facing south, from the 25th and top floor of Block 700B Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6. At the bottom is the junction with Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.

Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, facing north, to the east of Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West. The construction has split in half the once-straight road.

The junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 and Avenue 5, facing south, from the 13th and top floor of Block 646 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.

A sound barrier in front of Block 649 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5.

Many photos were made possible by common corridors of flats facing the main road. This is generally more common in older flats. Ang Mo Kio town is a relatively old town, so I am fortunate to be able to track the construction of the North-South Corridor from good vantage points.