Green Corridor (Rail Corridor) walk

The Green Corridor (officially called the Rail Corridor) is a relatively new hike in Singapore. The 24km walk follows the former railway line from Tanjong Pagar in the South to Woodlands in the North of the island, which was closed in 2011. Originally the path simply followed the former way route, with some of the railway track was still visible. This being Singapore, areas are not left abandoned or derelict for long, and currently (late 2017) the Green Corridor is undergoing renovation and enhancement work to turn it into an official park. This means some areas of the corridor are currently closed, but work is being completed in sections so there will always be some areas open at any given time.

Key Facts

Location: Singapore
Distance: under 2 km
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 1/5 (flat)
Guidebook: The Rough Guide to Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei (Rough Guides)(2018)
Accommodation: Accommodation in Singapore

I started hiking the Green Corridor in the ‘central’ section, near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and headed north. Being a former railway line, it is rather hard to get lost on this hike, and the path is also very flat! This makes it ideal for the less energetic or for those with small children. When I walked the corridor it also seemed very popular with cyclists.

One of the highlights for me was crossing the old steel railway bridges. Watching the traffic speed by below, it seemed far more removed from the bustle of Singapore than its height would suggest. Hopefully the renovation work will respect and retain these older structures and incorporate them into the developments appropriately.

One of the great things about the Green Corridor is that although it is peaceful and quiet, it is also relatively easy to drop off the walk and head back to ‘civilization’. There are several entry/exit points along the walk, and these are even relatively close to MRT stations too.

(Infrared image)

I first heard about Singapore’s Green Corridor while researching the Burma-Thailand Death Railway. Wikipedia had a list of railways that have been converted into walks, and near the top of the list was the Green Corridor. A bit of research was required as a lot of information available was (and still is) out of date. Singapore National Parks are probably the best resource: they have a good page on the Rail Corridor, including information about the individual sections. Another page I found this very helpful was this post on May Britt’s blog. May visited the rail corridor several years before I did and as such has pictures of many more sections, including the old Bukit Tamah railway station building (which is currently off limits).