14) 0-4-0ST steam tram engines from Kitson and Company and double-deck passenger trailer cars. However, the tramway proved to not be competitive against other modes of transport like the rickshaws and was discontinued in 1894. The first electric railways in Singapore began in 1891 as a 180 feet-long demonstration line built along New Harbour (present-day Keppel Harbour) by Charles Buckley with anticipation that an electric tramway between the Town and Kranji be built eventually. Several distinguished figures, including the Sultan of Johore were invited to witness the experiment and the Sultan rode on a makeshift tramcar up and down the line. This was followed by the Kranji Electric Line built near the residence of the Johore Sultan in 1892. Despite initial positive reception on the opening of the Line, little materialised out of the demonstrations. Singapore-Kranji Railway, 1900s Plans to build a railway line through Singapore, primarily to service the New Harbour had been mooted as early as 1869 by Engineer W. J. du Port of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company but the project to build a railway line was only approved by Governor Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell only in 1899 after then Governor Cecil Clementi Smith raised the need for it in an 1889 Legislative Council meeting. Construction works were then initiated, with the groundbreaking ceremony held on 16 April 1900. Chinese labour was employed principally. C. E. Spooner, general manager of the Federated Malay States Railway (FMSR), was appointed the supervisor of the project. At a total cost of $1,967,495, the Singapore-Kranji Railway (also known as the Singapore Government Railway), running from Singapore to Kranji, was completed in 1903. The first section was launched on 1 January 1903. It stretched from Singapore station at Tank Road to Bukit Timah and consisted of four stations along the line: Singapore, Newton, Cluny and Bukit Timah. According to a newspaper report the following day, “a total of 557½ passengers were carried” on the opening day. The second section, which extended the line to Woodlands, was completed three months later when the Woodlands station was opened on 10 April 1903. In 1903, there were a total of 426,044 passengers. By 1905, this had increased to 525,553. Soon after, work began on the extension of the railway line from a point near Tank Road where a new through station was built in 1906/7 to the wharves at Pasir Panjang. The extension was completed