Batu Arang-Coal Mining Tunnels (1908) 煤炭山煤礦隧道(一九零八年)

Batu Arang-Coal Mining Tunnels 1908 (煤炭山煤礦隧道一九零八年)


Batu Arang is a town in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia, that is located about 50 km from the capital Kuala Lumpur. Coal was first discovered in the region in 1908, when British authorities found large deposits of coal reserves that could be commercially viable and fuel a railway system. The town was established when the British started mining operations in 1913 and the air well was dug to a depth of 330m and there are hundreds of tunnels underground stretching the entire town of Batu Arang.

In 1915 a railway system linking Batu Arang and Kuang was built to transport coal to the rest of the country and Batu Arang became the the most developed town in Selangor and was known to local residents as Mini Gold Hill. As coal output and demand increased, the rail services to Kuala Lumpur was expanded and about 15 million tonnes of coal was mined over 47 years. The town even had an airstrip, a railway line, gurkha’s police base, police station and a brick factory. There were also houses for the miners, British officers and bungalows for the mine managers.

The demand for coal from Batu Arang skyrocketed due to the First World War, which led to a reduction of coal imports. The local coal was frequently sold to the railway companies, power stations, tin mines, dredges, and end customers. The mining operations ended in 1960.

煤炭山（Batu Arang）位于雪兰莪州，距离吉隆坡市区25公里，可以取道万挠路或依约路前往。当地被英国殖民于1908年发现拥有大量煤炭储蓄并开埠于1913年，英国煤矿公司开始运作是在1915年，在英殖民时期盛产煤矿而曾经成为雪拉莪州第二繁忙城镇。

隧道开采与露天开采，是煤炭山使用的两种煤矿开采法。开采隧道复杂也很暗很深,大约深度为330尺以及几百条地下隧道，工人都是用臭电来照路，而且里面经常发生爆炸，运送煤炭的“斗”也会随时掉落，工作环境极度危险。超过半世纪的地下采矿，煤炭山贡献了1500万吨的煤炭，成为马来亚工业动力的重要来源。

煤炭山曾经是掌控马来亚经济命脉的工业重镇，繁盛时期不仅建立了全马最大最完善的铁道交通系统、运送粮饷及保安用途的小型飞机场、雪州最大发电厂、设备完善的医院，还催生了马来亚当时最现代化及最大规模的砖瓦厂。在50年代中，柴油冲击煤矿市场，马来亚煤矿公司也在1960年正式关闭。


Location“地点” : Terowong Batu Arang/煤礦隧道- Batu Arang/煤炭山/: Gombak-Selangor/-鹅唛-雪兰莪（Malaysia/马来西亚）
Date : 10th Sept 2022