Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 18, 1889 The original version of Read Bridge in Singapore first went into service. Construction on this bridge began in 1881 and it was built across the part of the Singapore River that is within the area known as Clarke Quay. At the time of Read Bridge’s debut, Singapore was one of the British... Continue Reading →
April 16, 2013 A newly built railway terminus in Kurla, a suburb of western India’s city of Mumbai, was officially opened. (Along with being the most populous city of India, Mumbai is the capital of the country’s state of Maharashtra.) This terminus was the replacement for a smaller and dilapidated station complex that had long... Continue Reading →
March 14, 2020 A railway station in Takanawa, a neighborhood of the special ward of Minato in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, made its official public debut. Takanawa Gateway Station, which is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), was opened in March of 2020 so that it could be readily available over... Continue Reading →
February 27, 2005 A pivotal moment took place for construction on a railway tunnel in the northeastern part of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, when both halves of this structure were joined together. This breakthrough occurred about six-and-a-half years after the start of that construction project. That tunnel specifically courses through the Hakkōda mountain... Continue Reading →
February 23, 2019 A fleet of six-car trains built for the Marunouchi Line of the Tokyo Metro, a major rapid transit system operating in Japan’s Greater Tokyo Area, first went into service on a regular basis. The first of these 53 trains, which are collectively called the Tokyo Metro 2000 series, had been formally unveiled... Continue Reading →
February 6, 2017 Following the completion of work on major innovations and upgrades, Doroteo Jose station of the Manila Light Rail Transit System (better known as the LRT) in the Philippines was officially reopened to great fanfare. Doroteo Jose station, which is part of the LRT’s Line 1 (LRT-1), is located on the major thoroughfare... Continue Reading →
January 26, 2010 In the Republic of Indonesia, the Kanci-Pejagan Toll Road on the island of Java was officially opened. Those participating in the dedication ceremony for the new road included Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born in 1949), who was president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. This 22-mile (36-kilometer)-long toll road, which is located in... Continue Reading →
December 29, 2021 In the Indonesian province of East Java, a bus transit system (BTS) serving the city of Surabaya and surrounding regencies (administrative divisions) and cities was officially inaugurated. (Surabaya, the capital of East Java, is second only to Jakarta as Indonesia’s largest city.) This BTS owes its name in part to pecel semanggi,... Continue Reading →
December 20, 1879 A notable “first” for Japanese lighthouses took place with the installation of a fog horn – a device using highly audible signs to warn vessels of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines in foggy weather – at Shiriyazaki Lighthouse in the Tōhoku region. This lighthouse is located on Cape Shiriyazaki, the northernmost... Continue Reading →
December 14, 1890 In the Philippines, Cape Santiago Lighthouse on the island of Luzon first went into service. This lighthouse is specifically located on Cape Santiago in Calatagan, a municipality that is about 81 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Manila, in the Province of Batangas. Cape Santiago Lighthouse helps guide vessels traveling through the strait... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 