24/05/2026

theSunday Special VI ON SUNDAY MAY 24, 2026

An old railway map of Perak, with the Ipoh-Tronoh line visible on the left. They were apparently less than pleased at the thought of a railway running across their tin mining lands. “There was a petition actually, from the Chinese business community, against building the railway.” Of course, the British ignored the petition and proceeded with the construction anyway. The end result was a railway line stretching for 24km from Ipoh to Tronoh, passing through the towns of Menglembu, Lahat, Papan, Pusing and Siputeh. Busiest railway line Despite the miners’ opposition, the railway actually benefitted them as it allowed the transport of heavy machinery which would have proven difficult via roads. Additionally, the train could easily ferry workers to and fro between the mines and the towns where they resided. According to an article sourced by Tan from the Scottish Geographical Magazine , the Ipoh-Tronoh train made 14 runs each day, more than the 12 runs on the Kuala Lumpur train line. This suggests the Ipoh-Tronoh line was the busiest in British Malaya at the time. The railway was also an unexpected boon for students living in the Kinta Valley. “Teachers and students received free passes, so (the students) could pursue a better education in Ipoh. Even if they lived in the other 10 surrounding mining towns, it was safe, convenient and free for them,” said Tan. An article from 1907 published in the Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle also affirmed the train’s benefit to the Kinta Valley. “We have no doubt that all classes, miners, property

How Perak’s busiest railway line vanished O utside of Ipoh, there are quite a few settlements that fit the definition of “sleepy town” to a tee. Places such as Tronoh and Papan are quiet places today, often populated An old photograph depicts a locomotive and its carriages at the Telok Anson (Teluk Intan) railway station. – ALL PICS COURTESY OF ANSELL TAN Ipoh-Tronoh train service acted as state’s lifeline, transporting tin, machines, people By Noel Wong Yan Ming world go by. Finding this report while on a family trip, it felt like a “breakthrough” moment to Tan and it would form the base of his documentary. “Without that one reporter, without that news report, we couldn’t bring (the documentary) to life.” Land of tin

mostly by seniors, with most youngsters having left for greener pastures in the Klang Valley. Things were not always like this. In fact, once upon a time, someone living within or around any one of these towns would have likely awoken to the sound of a train’s whistle. Although little physical evidence has been left of its existence, the Ipoh-Tronoh railway line was a very real thing. In fact, there is evidence to suggest this line was actually British Malaya’s busiest, surpassing the traffic on even Kuala Lumpur’s own railway line at the time. So, what exactly made this line special and how did it vanish into thin air? That is exactly what local filmmaker Ansell Tan, 38, has worked to answer via his YouTube documentary The Forgotten Railway of Kinta Valley. Lucky discovery Tan, a Filipino-Chinese currently residing in Ipoh, has visited several schools and public events to share his findings. According to him, he too would have known nothing about the railway had he not stumbled upon a brief mention of it in a book, Ipoh: When Tin was King by Ho Tak Ming. “It was actually just about half a paragraph,” Tan told theSun , adding he would later have the honour of meeting Ho in person while showing his documentary at an event. After stumbling upon that mention, Tan grew curious about the railway line and began digging deep to find any information available about it.

According to Tan, the construction of the railway line coincided with the growth of Perak’s tin mining industry, specifically in the Kinta Valley. “It was right in the middle of the Tin Rush,” Tan said, noting how obscure the Tin Rush is compared with the Gold Rush, a key point in American history. “Tin was one of the pillar industries of Malaya, alongside rubber. Malaya accounted for 50% of the world’s tin production, Kinta Valley was 25%.” One interesting fact about the railway’s construction, according to Tan, involves opposition from local tin miners of the time.

holders, creators, coolies and manufacturers will prove this to be the most popular line in the Peninsula.” So, where is it today?

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Tan giving a talk on the history of the Ipoh-Tronoh railway and the Kinta Valley. “We searched everywhere we could think of... archives in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Australia and the UK. Private collections. Online sources. “And we only found very few related things. It was just endless searching and it was depressing actually to realise most of the information does not exist in Malaysia,” he said. Eventually, Tan decided to enlist some friends to expand the search. The frustration was still boiling when he finally found an obscure report from over a century ago. The report was by a journalist who decided to hop onto the newly launched line and he described the experience of watching the

A train chugs through the Malayan countryside, plumes of smoke spewing from its chimney.