Tg Pagar Railway Station canopies to be reinstated
The shelters that covered the platforms at the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will soon be fully reassembled again, with about 70 per cent of reinstatement works completed since July 2023.
The last of these 63 platform canopy panels – each weighing about 60 tonnes, including a temporary steel supporting steel frame – is slated to be moved back to its original location on March 15, more than six years after the two canopies were cut up and relocated so that Cantonment MRT station on Circle Line stage 6 (CCL6) could be built under the former railway station’s platform.
In 2016, the authorities announced that the iconic canopies would be reinstated after works on Cantonment station were completed, as the structures are important to the history and memories of the former railway station, which was completed in 1931 and is today a national monument.
The reinstatement works, which also include building new platforms and reinstalling rainwater pipes, are slated to run till August 2025.
Providing an update on CCL6, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times on March 12 that about 88 per cent of civil construction works are complete, and that the line’s three latest stations – Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward Road – are on track to be opened in 2026.
The construction of underground stations and associated tunnels for CCL6 have been “substantially completed”, LTA said, adding that the construction of entrances, aboveground structures, architectural, electrical and mechanical works are ongoing.
On March 8, the media got a behind-the-scenes look at the one of the 63 platform canopy panels being brought back from a storage yard about 700m away from its original location, to be reinstated.
The panel, like all others, was moved using two self-propelled modular transporters - equipment typically used at construction sites to lift heavy loads. Each panel measures about 9m wide, 13m long and 6m tall.
Rolling along at no more than 5kmh, the transporters were controlled by an operator using a remote control.
The transporters are self-balancing – ensuring that their load remains balanced even when travelling on an uneven surface – and that they can be manoeuvred in tight spaces, making them fit for the job.
Prior to being moved back, each of the 63 canopy panels underwent restoration at the storage yard, which they were moved to between July 2017 and November 2017. Works included washing the surfaces of the panels, as well as patching up cracks and replacing corroded parts.
To ensure that the two reassembled canopies resemble their original form as much as possible, each panel is brought back to its exact original location, with the last piece to be put in storage in 2017 the first to return to the station site.
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