New Rail Corridor Community Nodes in Queensway, Stagmont Ring

The one in Queensway, to be ready in 2027, could include heritage gallery and garden

- Ng Keng Gene

Beneath the intersection of Queensway and Portsdown Avenue is a mound of earth and some uninviting slopes, but the area underneath this busy viaduct will soon become a gathering space for the community.

The space beneath the Queensway viaduct is one of the upcoming "community nodes" that are being developed along the Rail Corridor.

The Queensway node will be completed in 2027, and could include a heritage gallery and a garden that pays tribute to the area's plantation history, said Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah on Jan 17.

Speaking at the launch of an exhibition on the Rail Corridor at The URA Centre, she also said a community node will be developed around 2035 in Stagmont Ring, near to Yew Tee and an upcoming MRT station on the Downtown Line that was announced on Jan 6.

The exhibition, called From Rail to Trail, commemorates 14 years of partnership between nature and heritage advocates and various government agencies that helped turn the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway line into a public green space.

The 24km-long line that stretches from Tanjong Pagar to Kranji was decommissioned in 2011 after about eight decades of service.

Each community node along the corridor is a space for the public to gather and participate in activities.

Four have opened so far - in Kranji, underneath a PIE viaduct, at the former Bukit Timah Railway Station, and in Buona Vista.

A fifth is slated to open in 2025 at the former Bukit Timah Fire Station, after LHN Facilities Management won a tender to operate the state property in April 2024.