When we talk about the train to Eunos, we immediately think about the MRT to the station named after Kampong Eunos (which was in turn named after Singapore pioneer Eunos bin Abdullah). Less of the younger generation would associate trains with the rail system which still connects us to Malaysia via the KTM line in Tanjong Pagar. And probably fewer still would remember a time when there was a railway line in Joo Chiat.

Philip Chew, a man with an ancestral connection to Chew Joo Chiat, talks about this railway that connected Kallang with the quarry at Jalan Eunos 80 years ago. He also digs up some old newspaper reports of the railway (accidents, mostly) and also traces the location of the line in relation to the buildings standing today.

The history of Joo Chiat railway line is connected to the construction of Kallang Aerodrome in 1931. Kallang basin was then a swampy area and needed land fill for reclamation. A railway line for light train was constructed from the proposed aerodrome to Jalan Eunos quarry.

There are no more remnants of the railway today, but you can still retrace the track on My Chew Joo Chiat Story.