The Malayan railway network was originally established to transport tin ores from the mines to the ports along the western coastline. The first line was opened in 1885, connecting the mining district of Taiping with Port Weld. Four major lines were in operation by 1896 and the Federated Malay States Railway was formed to manage them. Railway development in Singapore lagged behind and the first major rail network, the Singapore-Kranji line, was only opened in 1903. Shortly after the completion of the Causeway linking Singapore to the Malayan Peninsula in 1923, the two railway networks were finally linked, thereby allowing goods and passengers to be transported seamlessly between the island and the mainland. During the Japanese Occupation, some tracks of the Malayan rail network were broken up by the Japanese and used in the construction of the infamous Burma-Siam Railway. Both the Singapore and Malaysia railway networks remain in operation today and are run by the Malaysian state-owned railway company, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, otherwise known as KTM.
