Singapore's Lost Railways Hunt EP1 - The Old Sentosa Monorail

If you were born in the 80s and 90s, you may have remembered travelling through Sentosa with a completely different monorail system than the one we have today. Sadly today, not much is left of that old monorail, but let’s relive some of that nostalgia as we explore what little that’s left of that old monorail!
We'd like to acknowledge this article by RailTravel Station, which has been very helpful in helping us find the locations of the stations railtravelstation.com/retraci....

[@muhammadkhalilbinabdullate6183]

Actually they should at least keep one whole monorail train intact and display it in some form for people to at least take photos on it.

[@jessicaregina1956]

Yes im sure your opinion is now being done by the sentosa development corporation.

[@nicrome]

Yea they scrapped it 20yrs ago

[@kamsanibinothman453]

Im the one the old driver monorail in Sentosa enjoy to drive as a monorail driver.not so boring when working to see many tourist and local people.when have family day in Sentosa so busy never stop driving this monorail.so many overtime be as a monorail driver.i miss so much the old monorail in memory all my life part of Sentosa staff in that time.

[@NekoCoaster]

Seeing those old footage, especially the train cars with the 'Christmas lights' on them really takes me back to the old days as a kid, along with memories of the old water show. Watching the Merlion shooting green laser's out of it's eyes from KMs away (or at least from what I can remember), and having it project on the water screen right infront of us, blew my mind away and was probably the peak of technological "Disney magic" for me. If I had to describe my favorite view on the monorail ride, it would probably be the one where the train passes by the depot and you can see multiple of those trains 'parked' on the parallel tracks. Always fascinated me as a kid (being a rail-fan back then) and would spark imaginations on how they would shift the tracks to get one train out of the lots. I still remember constantly complaining to my parents about how painful the orange bar seats were as the gaps between them were too wide for me to sit comfortably 😂. But all that aside, looking back at the old run-down tracks, it's actually pretty mind blowing how these cars were able to carry the amount of passengers they did, given the small surface area of the track itself. Also, great work on the video quality! The production quality was so good, my mind kept thinking this was another episode of CNA's talking point 😂

[@mc1337]

Thank you for the video! It's rare to see videos of this nature about Singapore's railways. Without the video, I wouldn't have known that there were still remnants of the old Sentosa monorail that are still standing today. Personal anecdotes can help too, as from what I can see, old railways and transport in Singapore is generally not well documented, much less in an easy-to-digest video like this one. Keep it up!

[@AdamFaruqi]

I lived in Singapore in the 1990s. I remember taking the cable car to Sentosa and having a great time on the island. This video brought back a lot of memories.

[@5tr1f3]

I took this when I was very young in the 80s with my sister and parent , so erm those who have the same experience as me should be in our 40s and above 😆 by now

[@chweeshanyuhenry6441]

Omg these are real memories of me riding those monorail trains, thank you so much for letting me reminiscing this nostalgic past!

[@emilchan5379]

I loved taking the monorail as a child. It was open air, so you could stick your hand or upper torso out of it if you wanted. But imo the best experience was if you took it at night. The air is cool and the monorail is lit up with Xmas/Hari Raya lights on the exterior, but because the interior lights were dim, it made for a cozy or romantic feeling. I remember quite a few couples would just sit on the monorail and let it loop around the island or two. Plus the monorail was completely free. As for me I was a kid, so I enjoyed taking the monorail at night for a fun spooky feeling. Sentosa back then was pretty dark at night, so as a kid it was fun to sit safely in the monorail while staring out into the dark trees looking for ghosts. I hope my kid self didn't bother the couples on the monorail trying to have a romantic moment hehe. Thinking back, the old monorail wasn't just a form of transportation. It was an attraction in and of itself. I miss it.

[@timothywoo7994]

My childhood...still remember the guns and artillery sound whenever it passed fort siloso...

[@SuccessforLifester]

I rode it back then. Really one of the best highlights then and it went around the island

[@themrfaichannel4536]

I remembered sitting on those painful metal seats with orange bumps running across them. You can stick your head out where the door closes, you feel the wind and when it gets nearer to beach station, you can smell the salt in the air. I like to seat near the driver cabin in front and see him making the announcements on the long black mic in front of him. Ah it's such a waste even a display model isn't around to look at anymore.

[@thetnaing6444]

Old is gold and it can see the whole island

[@YourLocalDoctor]

This video screams Jay Foreman at me in so many ways Can't wait for more of this series!

[@ltham1707]

I cried during the delimitation date because it was my favorite monorail 🚝

[@carmentan9336]

I prefer sentosa express

[@DerpyFaery]

I miss the old monorail. The sound of cicadas, the refreshing smell of verdant greenery… and I remember we could hear a voice recording pointing things out to passengers.

[@2710cruiser]

Man I remember taking the monorail and loved it.

[@77014402]

Great watch!! Please make more videos like this about Singapore 🙂

[@anders4u222]

Luckily I had a chance to ride the old monorail in 2004 on my first ever visit to SG, since then I’ve been coming back every year and now even have a Singaporean lau po ;-)

[@bytemegga]

I've had the chance to ride on the old monorail when I was very young. It was open air and you felt like you were flying through the canopies if you could ignore the engine and rattling that is. My father worked on this when he was with UE. Glad to see some of the old track

[@Karl-going-solo]

OMG. They ripped it down! How sad! :( I went on that monorail in 1997 during my only visit to Singapore and was hoping to go on it again one day. Thanks for the video.

[@Zero_dgf]

I misss these ride trips 😢

[@louplayz752]

This video is very excellent, and you look so good with those clothes. Keep it up!

[@tomryann86]

As someone born in the 80’s in singapore I had the best time going to sentosa in the 90’s! Fantasy island, asia village, volcano land, underwater world, rasa rasa hawker centre, a&w ferry, ferry terminal parrot show and not forgetting the old monorail where it’s non aircon and u can feel the breeze whenever the monorail was moving with the long distance.

[@SageBaka]

This youtube channel feels like something special in the making

[@lawrencewang9048]

Come to think of it, the sentosa monorail was brutally simple and cost effective by design. Almost the entirety of the tracks were I-Beams and RSJs that are commonly used in construction industry, so relatively easy to manufacture and supply. The trains were simply aluminium cans powered by a diesel engine, which was probably extremely fuel efficient and easy to maintain given how prolific diesel engine technology is. Looks like the authorities were on a tight budget when they built this.

[@PrograError]

well... it was the early days and they , I suppose, needed some way to pay for the new airport they just built... plus the whole island (Sentosa) is basically under one corporation

[@FiveNineSquared]

I'm a big fan of Jay Foreman's Unfinished London series so I'm loving this video a lot! If you're looking for suggestions, the scrapped north branch of the Punggol LRT may be worth looking into. Though I think there's not much intact information about it. 4:04 Also this shot is really good. That's like a near perfect angle, how long did it take to find it lol

[@engardepostsg]

Hi, glad to hear that you enjoyed it! As for the shot, the archive photo was provided to us by Sentosa Development Coorporation, and just so happens that as we were walking away from Fort Siloso, I remembered that SDC photo, so I showed it to my cameraman, and he recreated the shot, and by gum, it was a very close match!

[@Tinny10_]

Secrets of the MRT inspired by Jay Foreman too if you want another rail inspired idea lol That is kinds cool

[@tanjunwei-ms6kc]

Replaced by Punggol Coast station

[@Hans5958]

Came back here to said that they granted your wish!

[@yeeterr]

SAMEE

[@dorph]

i loved the Monorail!

[@ianpolo5673]

The old monorail served its purpose actually. We get to see the scene from the travelling above.

[@krischang4653]

I still missed the old sentosa

[@wargodlegend]

Luckily I got sit before the monorails. Love the scenery around the island .

[@po1ariser]

very well put together and edited, im surprised there arent more subscribers to you guy's channel

[@MattMcIrvin]

I had no idea this existed! I rode the new monorail to Sentosa and also rode the cable cars to and around the island, but didn't know there was an old monorail on the island. Physically it reminds me a bit of the old Lion Country Safari Monorail at Kings Dominion.

[@youskain]

Would like to see more of such series exploring Singapore past heritage!

[@flowercolourful4718]

The monorail was an attraction and a great joy to ride on, enjoying the scenic nature view of Sentosa, feeling the sun and breeze beating against our faces. Used to go to Sentosa very often bec of the monorail ride. But eversince they demolish it and replace it, we have only visited Sentosa twice, and the new Express is in no way comparable to the old monorail. Sentosa has lost its gem.

[@kidanimatoryt]

My mom did ride the old Sentosa Monorail. She said it was fun 👍👍👍

[@amazingwalker7837]

Thank you for the nice video ! 😊

[@90taetaeya]

I do absolutely miss the old Sentosa monorail. It is totally an attraction of itself and it was free too.

[@mhpakroes]

Thanks, can't wait for the next episode... !

[@mikea.1586]

i vividly still remember the jingles being played on the crappy speakers sometimes at full volume... and the DOORS CLOSING! Alert so retro!

[@TRDInfo]

Bring back a monorail back on this route 🥲

[@user-jo4mb6hh7t]

I've been to the gallery before but didn't realize it was a monorail station!

[@hylje]

The old monorail sounds and looks like the monorail attraction in Linnanmäki amusement park. It’s funny to think about that an extremely similar, if not the exact same technology has been used for legitimate transportation too.

[@muhammadfairuzsamsi7209]

Good work Javin Ye

[@Urally]

I LOVE HER!!!!

[@louplayz752]

makes sense

[@amplifiedpoop]

this was amazing

[@eatdriveplay]

U look too young to have known these history… incredible. And very high quality videos - speaking as someone in the industry. Well done.

[@toixcchicken4019]

such a cutie

[@axan50transportproductions]

Great idea for a video. Really enjoyed the comprehensive video that you guys made. I learned a lot about the monorail(considering I was born a year after it went defunct). I suggest doing a video on the former KTM railway that closed in 2011 or the shelved plans for Punggol North LRT line and the hidden middle platform at Punggol LRT station.

[@seananlinjunxi868]

not to forget the old Singapore-Kranji Railway (that cut right through Orchard Road), Singapores extensive tram network (that went on to be converted to the world's largest trolleybus network at its time), KTM Jurong Branch and the Jurong Bird Park Panorail.

[@axan50transportproductions]

@@seananlinjunxi868 Valid indeed. But I am not sure if the trolleybus and Singapore-Kranji railway have any remnants left. The Bird Park Panorail's remnants have been lost to history ever since the relocation to Mandai. KTM Jurong Branch does have many remnants of railway tracks but it would require hiking in the dense Clementi and Maju forests as well as potentially entering restricted areas near the yards.

[@seananlinjunxi868]

@@axan50transportproductions the Singapore-Kranji Railway has an entire stretch that was converted to a park with road bridges going over dating back to the railway. The park is called Duxton Plains park.

[@PrograError]

@@axan50transportproductions pretty sure filming near there is just a total red flag for the popo to come lim kopi.

[@GavVlogNTrainspot]

Hunt for the Jurong Railway, the forgotten industrial line too

[@autoredox]

My mom used to ride this. I also saw an old brochure that depicts the monorail line along the island.

[@charleswilliams2841]

Haha love the transition to Universal studios in the video with the Jurassic Park theme song. I'm a big fan of Sentosa/Singapore. Very good video

[@ijat2aizat]

Used to ride that monorail to go to Fort Siloso..

[@ardikapradnya7040]

Didn't know it didn't exist anymore! I took a ride in it during my first ever visit to Singapore in 1999! I did remember it being hot, and quite a long ride, me and my family fell asleep for a bit lol quite nostalgic

[@campfiresnlasguns]

Thought this was an official Sentosa video. Very professional.

[@CrazyMadz]

Very Informative

[@LordAaronus]

gawd I loved that old thing

[@nukegamez8686]

Yeah its kinda sad that its gone

[@user-ek8nw8tp4d]

i really missed the old monorail. haiz

[@youcanpunchmeintheface]

I have just realized to have such privilege that I had ridden the old monorail in my childhood. Yea, it was cramped and unfit for such hot & humid Singapore but still a fascinating experience nonetheless.

[@radjafan]

I remember being on that monorail back in 2004. Man, Im old.

[@trext888]

Is the host a child actress acted in ch 8 chinese dramas before? Looks kinda familiar

[@Hiroshima-rs7ms]

もうモノレールが走らず残念... でも遺構とえきを発見する楽しさ

[@boonlay76]

I’m really curious on where you guys source all these data, I do want to read up on them. I enjoyed the two video you guys have made on this series

[@sweet813one]

I would like to suggest looking into other projects such as the Marina Line, which is now part of the Circle and Downtown lines Or even the lost LRT plans such as the Buona Vista line etc.

[@tanjunwei-ms6kc]

& Bishan-Tanjong Katong Line

[@angelevil1006]

Wow! That was the story of the Sentosa Express? I thought it was just loke that from the start of Sentosa but they cleaned it.

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

I remember riding it. It was so bloody slow. The new one is already pretty slow but it at least feels like it's moving lol. I think it sometimes broke down but I don't remember that well. Did they not have those beach trams back then? I thought I rode in something like that the second time I went to Sentosa and that should have been before the monorail was stopped.

[@miguellucido2113]

4:31 i remember this place at Universal Studios in Singapore and the other is Sea Aquarium at Resorts World Station

[@pauloarceo3035]

My mother used to tell me stories how I am so amazed by sentosa when we was in singapore. Oh how things would've been if my parents stayed. Now I'm drying up like a jerky in the middle of the desert.

[@boyan619]

The Sentosa Monorail was a monorail system which served as the main means of transportation on the island of Sentosa in Singapore, and has been replaced by the new monorail system, the Sentosa Express. The system was constructed at a cost of S$14 million by Von Roll of Switzerland, who also built the Singapore Cable Car. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentosa_Monorail

[@jaredcastorarcenas6283]

Will you make more videos with or without Jay Foreman on Unfinished Singapore?

[@svc43bsoe]

dis is probably like unfinished london

[@engardepostsg]

Hi Sam, you're right, this format has some inspiration from Unfinished London, and that series inspired us to tell stories of forgotten and abandoned infrastructure like this in an interesting and humorous way!

[@JesusLovesHisCreations]

I remember back then there’s an A&W restaurant in a shape of the old steamer boat😢rn gone😢

[@sgpublictransport34956]

The old monorail is so long. Imma try find the track remains one time

[@premkudva]

I don't remember the previous monorail at Sentosa. But in 2015 at Jurong Bird Park we were surprised to not see the monorail there that we had seen in 2008. Instead they that boring battery carts doing the rounds. If not for the three stations that are still standing we would have thought we had imagined it all.😂😂

[@tanjunwei-ms6kc]

Panorail closed in 2012

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

Thanks Geofftech and Jay Foreman for inspiration in this new series.

[@lim6204]

Yup

[@KMdonatestuntguy]

They don’t post much but they make quality content 🎉🎉🎉

[@MrBoliao98]

I vaguely remember this from the 2000s.

[@c247478426]

LOL. I still remember the muzak they play on the train.

[@TanVasinTrains]

Jay foreman in Singapore

[@worldeye1879]

Hi may I know the directions for this place??

[@SuccessforLifester]

1:14 you mean retrained? Not retreat right ?

[@istankimjong-unbutcantstan3398]

The original monorail looks like something that should have been in an amusement park....

[@AnyaGardner-fx6wb]

nicee

[@Rizqyyyyyy]

I didnt know that!

[@tanjunwei-ms6kc]

Do discontinued North East Line Jalan Kayu branch & discontinued Putrajaya Monorael

[@PrograError]

Putrajaya monorail is basically a pet project of someone *cough *

[@nicrome]

It felt like the old sentosa was specific to millennials’ childhood

[@PrograError]

more like the 90's kiddos... 97' here loh...

[@laujunming4152]

Maybe cover the KTM next?

[@SEAExplorer86]

interested to know about the KTM track Jurong wards

[@sevenhenson3926]

still prefer the old one with natural air ventilation. the current stinks with smells of everyone's sweat

[@akmalkausaralhafiz798]

Can you make a video about the Jurong Bird Park Panorail

[@peachypeach]

"Hey! Singapore" just got a reboot lol.

[@tanjunwei-ms6kc]

Replaced by Sentosa Express

[@stepford_express279]

Those are actually trolly buses 4:39

[@trainrover]

Expo-Express and Minirail: • kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHfQcqywqZmLfMU • kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGGleX6bmNKSl7M • kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGGleX6bmNKSl7M

[@ltham1707]

Only there is underwater fort Siloso cable car and ficus stations

[@gnhansen29]

It's a shame that Sydney didn't replace it's monorail with a more modern version.

[@SBSL-bf8cq]

fun facts: that old Sentosa Monorail has very poor maintenance and increasing costs

[@carmentan9336]

I never take sentosa monorail before i was youn☹️☹️. but anyway i prefer sentosa express because i like fangda PSD 😊

[@isaacfung622]

Didn't release Singapore has so much history on transport

[@PrograError]

there's some... but most are just text somewhere in the books, there's literally no physical presence left. only those closer to the 2000s have some semblance of it's former glory.