At dawn in Alor Setar, the capital of north-west Kedah state, bleary-eyed workers jostle for space in a packed carriage bound for Penang’s factories.
It might look and feel like a scene of a busy urban metro in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta or London. But this is rush hour in one of the most rural states in Malaysia. And workers like technician Nuhairi Ismail are southbound, heading to Penang’s industrial parks some 100km away on this intercity line.
It is 6.40am on a Monday morning in August and there is limited seating in the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) train, especially because some coaches are standing-room only.
But Mr Nuhairi, 47, who stays at a rented room near his workplace during weekdays, does not mind the crush. In fact, taking the train is an improvement from how he used to commute in 2022.
Previously, he would take a three-hour-long bus ride, which was often delayed due to traffic jams. The shorter, more reliable rail journey allows him to return home to Kuala Kedah, near the Alor Setar station, on Fridays to spend weekends with his family, before repeating the journey on Monday mornings.
“At least I can meet my wife and four kids three days a week, because the bus would take (at least) twice as long,” said Mr Nuhairi, who was curiously wearing a helmet throughout the 75-minute train journey.
He does not want to forget the helmet for his motorbike, he said, which is parked around the Bukit Tengah station in the Penang suburbs. From there, it is a 25-minute ride to his workplace at Bayan Lepas industrial park.
Likewise, many Malaysians have benefited from the 2015 launch of the Komuter Utara (Northern Shuttle) service that serves the more rural northern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak.
KTM, which is Malaysia’s national rail operator, provides both intercity and local train services across Peninsular Malaysia. The Komuter Utara is just one of the various rail arteries operated by KTM.
From its early days as Malayan Railways, with the first diesel locomotive making its debut in 1957, KTM now has a network that stretches from Singapore to the Thai border.
Moving up north from Johor state, the KTM West Coast Railway Line meets the East Coast Railway Line in Gemas – a small town in Negeri Sembilan that serves as a key transport hub.
The diesel-run East Coast Line service, which includes the stretch known as the “Jungle Railway”, takes passengers through the scenic forests of Pahang and Kelantan.
On the west coast, the high-speed Electric Train Service (ETS), which started in August 2010, takes passengers from Gemas to cities such as KL, Ipoh, Butterworth and Padang Besar.
The ETS is set to be extended to JB by end-2025, taking commuters faster and further south.
In fact, infrastructure and public connectivity are set to improve under the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026-2030), which was announced in July.
Developments – such as the upcoming East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), JB-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link and Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) Mutiara line – that will enhance the transport grid, boost economic growth and regional mobility are also on track.
Rail revival
Neglected for a time in favour of planes and cars, Malaysia’s trains are enjoying a quiet resurgence – drawing not only commuters heading to work, but also adventurers and nostalgia seekers who believe that the best part about travel is the journey on the open track.
Today, there is a sense that the country is seeing a rail revival. Among the recent rail efforts are KTM’s express ETS, which drastically shortens the travel time between stations. The service currently runs from Padang Besar, near the Thai border, to Kluang town in Johor.
By end-2025, the ETS will expand southwards into JB, cutting travel time between Johor state’s capital city and Malaysia’s capital city KL to around 3½ hours. This is half the current time taken on a KTM diesel train and comparable to a road journey via car or tour coach but without the traffic congestion.
Ridership for intercity rail service has more than doubled in the past decade to over 8.75 million
But urban commuter ridership declined by around 60 per cent to 18.47 million from 49.69 million in the period from 2015 to 2024 because of reduced services due to maintenance and upgrading work on the Klang Valley lines.
These numbers do not include the Mass Rapid Transit and LRT systems serving the Klang Valley region in KL that registered a whopping 336 million rides in 2024 versus 234 million in 2015, according to government statistics.
While riding the rails to work is the best option for many commuters, KTM services also draw train buffs who enjoy rail travel and tourists seeking adventure, especially on the longer interstate routes.
Here, carriages wend their way past rice fields, rubber and oil palm plantations, and lush forest – minus the hassle of driving that involves myriad road tolls and traffic jams, or the bland monotony of a flying tube.
KL-based Kamini Visvananthan, 41, was at Mentakab station in Pahang state about to board a train to return home, having completed the iconic Jungle Railway route that winds through the dense tropical forest of the country’s central interior.
Kamini Visvananthan, a rail commuter from KL
“We don’t really see the smaller cities (when you drive or fly); the way of life that happens.”
“We see pockets of the culture of Malaysia in the little towns and how it aligns and weaves together,” said the human rights worker, describing a visit to a durian plantation, a centuries-old temple and several colonial-era buildings that tell of the country’s past.
For leisure and necessity
For leisure travellers like Ms Visvananthan, the rustic Jungle Railway, which is officially termed Shuttle Timuran (Eastern Shuttle), is both a sentimental jaunt through rural hinterland and an opportunity to bask in the breathtaking natural views.
The diesel-powered train service of Shuttle Timuran runs along the East Coast Line, which provides essential connectivity to towns and villages along its route.
The Jungle Railway stretch is so termed because it journeys through Malaysia’s rugged interior, cutting across rainforests that are more than 130 million years old, among the world’s oldest.
The full scenic route takes between 15 and 19 hours from end to end – Gemas in the southern part of the peninsula and Tumpat in the north-east corner of Malaysia.
The train rattles through the country’s core, past verdant jungle, limestone outcrops, mountainous terrain, mud-stained rivers and tiny forgotten villages. Along the way, there are glimpses of daily life: children heading to school, villagers tending to their land and the occasional cattle grazing by the tracks.
Only secondary school for miles
And while it usually chugs along with most of its cabins less than half full, Shuttle Timuran, which plies a 526km-long route, provides a necessary public service that must be maintained, especially in rural, forested areas with limited transport options.
The service is a lifeline for residents in Kuala Krai district.
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dabong is the only secondary school for miles in this part of interior Kelantan.
Hundreds of students rise before 6am to board Shuttle Timuran to get to class – as far as 30km away along narrow rural roads – sometimes only after the bell rings at 7.30am due to delays.
It is a slow ride, as diesel-powered trains on this shuttle route have to wait for each other to pass on a single-track line. The delays are a common enough occurrence that some of the students say their teachers are unperturbed if they arrive up to about 15 minutes late.
While the morning train was full of students engaging in banter or playing batu seremban, the local version of five stones, there were also travellers with tour guides in tow alighting at Dabong for some sightseeing.
The local attractions include the seven-tiered, 305m-high Jelawang waterfall, said to be one of the tallest cascades in South-east Asia, as well as a number of limestone caves dotted around the tiny town that is fast becoming an ecotourism draw.
Of course, no tour in Malaysia is complete without a meal, and Dabong’s location at the confluence of the Pergau and Galas rivers amid pristine forests makes it one of the best places to enjoy the popular Kelantanese dish mi udang, or noodles served with huge freshwater prawns in luscious gravy.
Other stops along the line are pretty much deserted but for the occasional villager hopping on and off for errands. The stops include Aur Gading and Kampung Berkam in Pahang, where the stations are basically a gazebo and shack respectively along the railway track.
Shuttling across borders
Further south towards Singapore, the scene becomes livelier. The cross-border Shuttle Tebrau is the closest point for residents in Singapore to experience KTM’s service. With 31 trips daily, the five-minute journey from Woodlands in Singapore to JB Sentral has become a popular commuter option, serving 3.1 million passengers in 2024.
On KTM’s ticketing website, the first six trips – from 5am to 7.30am – going from JB Sentral to Woodlands are often sold out months in advance, as many Malaysians working in Singapore prefer to avoid the notorious traffic jams at both checkpoints along the Causeway.
It is a daily commute for many, and oft-times a mad rush for those trying to navigate from Singapore’s north-west region to the Central Business District or other office and industrial zones.
The diesel-powered locomotive has ferried passengers across the Causeway alongside three water pipelines since mid-2015. But the single-track service is set to be replaced by the RTS Link – a 4km light rail transit shuttle service between Bukit Chagar station in JB and Woodlands North station in Singapore.
With the RTS Link set to begin operations in December 2026, the Shuttle Tebrau service will be discontinued six months later — bringing an end to KTM’s presence in Singapore after more than a century.
Still, Shuttle Tebrau regular Zylyna Zailan is wistful. She harbours hopes that the locomotive service will be retained, citing its convenience in clearing both Singapore and Malaysia immigration in one go at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint – unlike the double inspection required for people travelling by car, motorcycle or bus.
“I heard that (Shuttle Tebrau will be terminated when RTS starts its services). I wish we can retain it. If the RTS breaks down, at least we will still have the KTM Shuttle Tebrau as an alternative,” said the 33-year-old Singaporean, who works in the private sector.
Fortunes on track with rail
The first railway track in Malaysia was the 13km Taiping-Port Weld line, which was opened in 1885. It was built by the British colonial administration primarily to transport commodities, such as tin and rubber, from mines and plantations to ports.
Though initially designed for goods, this line marked the beginning of Malaysia’s rail transport system, with passenger services being offered as well.
Settlements boomed and ebbed along with the fortunes of the railway. Thus were the sleepy towns of Taiping and Ipoh propelled to fame and riches.
The expansion and creation of new lines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided the connectivity that laid the foundation for a robust export-oriented economy.
Completed in 1924, the 660m-long Guillemard Bridge in Kelantan is the longest and oldest steel truss railway bridge in Malaysia still in use today.
But rail services began to wane when the Malaysian government shifted its focus to road construction, particularly from the 1970s onwards.
As the nation embarked on the journey to produce its own national car – Proton – in the mid-1980s, automobile ownership became an aspiration and a symbol of success for the middle class and road transport began to overshadow rail’s dominance.
Malaysia now has more registered vehicles than people, with 38.7 million vehicles compared with a population of 34.2 million. In the second quarter of 2025, Malaysia surpassed Indonesia to become the region’s largest car market.
The development of the rail system has also, in some cases, been uneven and KL remains the only city in Malaysia with an established urban rail system since 1995.
Currently, state-owned KTM relies on government funding, as only its cargo operations are profitable, unlike its overall passenger services.
However, developing the train network is a must, and KTM continues to connect major cities and small towns through an extensive rail network, supplying a crucial service in isolated areas with no other form of transport.
Modern-day train passengers gliding over Malaysia’s longest railway viaduct find themselves snapping photos of the ethereal scene that unfolds.
The 3.5km-long Bukit Merah Lake Railway Bridge in Perak, completed in 2013, is one of only five railway bridges in the world that crosses a lake.
The ride on the Bukit Merah Lake Railway Bridge across a lake – seemingly floating over water – has evoked comparisons to the Japanese animation film Spirited Away, made by Studio Ghibli.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Bukit Merah bridge. Please be ready to capture the immense scenery of the beautiful lake,” announced the driver as the train approached the crossing.
While rail travel no longer dominates the transport landscape as cars, buses and motorbikes ply Malaysia’s vast road network, train connections still bring a boost to the local economy.
Rail brings opportunities
Around Penang, the Komuter Utara gives the state’s vibrant manufacturing sector, especially the semiconductor industry, a wider catchment of commuting workers that has, in turn, boosted consumption in the adjacent states of Kedah and Perak.
The Kota Setar district in Kedah – KTM has two stations here, including Alor Setar – where Mr Nuhairi the technician lives, saw its economy expand by nearly 25 per cent in just four years after the commuter service was launched in 2015, according to government data.
In the southern state of Johor, residents of Segamat welcomed the arrival of the ETS in March.
When the ETS started servicing Segamat, entrepreneurs like Ms Ghai Swee Ling, 49, quickly sought to capitalise on potential business opportunities. She has opened a fried chicken stall at the station and a shop nearby selling rail-themed products.
But business is likely to take off in a big way only when there are more rail services, other than the current six stops daily for Segamat.
“The low frequency of trains is the biggest obstacle for our business. The Railway Asset Corporation offered me the largest shop (area) in the station, but we need a larger crowd to sustain business,” Ms Ghai told The Straits Times one recent afternoon at her shop, which had no customers then.
Segamat town in northern Johor is at least a three-hour drive from both KL and JB. The same journey would take 2½ hours by train.
Elsewhere, like in Taiping, where 22 ETS trains stop daily, business is booming.
Taiping, the former state capital of Perak, was largely built on wealth generated from large-scale tin mining.
A popular drink in these parts is “hor ka sai”, a blend of sweet Milo and strong black coffee known by its Hokkien name.
Local property agent Jonathan Cheah, 37, said: “The drink’s actually from Kuala Sepetang. It’s a (kind of) mocha and it’s delicious.”
Some 17km from Taiping, Kuala Sepetang is known for its ecotourism attractions, including mangroves, eagles and pink dolphins. This is a far cry from its role as a major supplier of mangrove charcoal for wood-fired locomotives in the late 19th century.
Mr Khairul Salleh Ahmad estimates a 50 per cent increase in tourist numbers for his river cruise service in Kuala Sepetang since the ETS arrived in Taiping in the mid-2010s.
“The peak season is during school holidays and public holidays. Most of the time, I run a nature classroom for (secondary) students to help them experience what’s beyond the textbook,” the 60-year-old tour guide told ST, while pointing out mudskippers and blue kingfishers.
In this coastal area, foodies can find the freshest seafood. Here, the speciality is Matang seafood porridge, each bowl custom-made with a variety of fish, prawn and crab.
Growing network, richer experiences
As the high-speed ETS expands its network, so do the horizons of its passengers.
Way up north, where the ETS service terminates at Padang Besar, hundreds of shuttle vans, tour guides and vendors selling insurance and SIM cards crowd around the station.
From there, most passengers getting off head across to the nearby Thai border towns of Hat Yai and Dannok, about one to two hours’ drive away respectively, for shopping, dining and entertainment.
In fact, Hat Yai has become such a sought-after destination among Malaysians that KTM began operating an overnight service from KL in 2022. About 20 annual trips are made each year during peak holiday periods, with all 400 seats per train regularly selling out within minutes of going on sale.
The Arked Niaga shopping complex in Padang Besar, locally known as Pasar Siam (Siamese Market), houses hundreds of Malaysian and Thai traders just a 15-minute walk from the train station.
A blend of Malay and Thai is commonly spoken among the traders. Thai dishes like Danok grilled beef – named after the Thai border town near Malaysia – are sold alongside local fare, and stalls offer the popular Betagen fermented milk drinks from Thailand.
Some traders cross the border daily to sell budget Thai goods in the two-story building. One of them is Ms Ku Yamiliah Tuan Ari, 22, who sells nuts, snacks and rice. She inherited the shop from her mother, who established it in 2005.
Thai trader Ku Yamiliah Tuan Ari, who crosses the border daily
“My daily routine involves bringing goods and stamping my passport at two immigration posts.”
Traders enjoy the economic spillover from tourists, as well as Malaysians heading back to their home towns from the Klang Valley region by rail to avoid traffic jams that some say can stretch to more than 20 hours during major festive periods.
Indeed, KTM comes into its own during festive seasons such as Hari Raya and Chinese New Year, when it increases the number of services on its intercity routes. About a quarter of a million tickets nationwide are snapped up at such times in the “balik kampung” exodus of people from urban areas to their home towns for celebratory family reunions.
Filling void after floods
Unfortunately, there is no longer a cross-border economy in the east to mirror the thriving activity in Padang Besar.
The spur line, or rail offshoot, in Kelantan that stretches from Pasir Mas to Rantau Panjang, and then across the border to Sungai Golok in Thailand, has been shuttered since February 2007 due to heavy flood damage to the railway tracks and station.
The Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex at the Malaysia-Thai border now caters to those crossing by road only, meaning that many will simply zoom pass Rantau Panjang instead of making a pit stop as they disembark from the train. This has turned what used to be a bustling border town into more of a ghost town, with what used to be the main street mostly seeing just schoolchildren or soldiers and police officers from their barracks.
Shop lots in what used to be the town centre are now largely abandoned, just like the train station, which is filled with graffiti and debris. According to Madam Siti Hawa Yaacob, who operates Sejiwa Cafe, one of the few businesses that remain, the empty lot next to hers used to be a Maybank branch.
But there are those who are curious to know what has become of the town and train station that used to be a major trading post.
Information technology professional Ting Ding Ching, 30, stopped at the disused Rantau Panjang station before spending the night in nearby Golok with his girlfriend, having driven more than six hours from KL and taking in sights along the way, such as Guillemard Bridge, the longest and oldest steel truss railway bridge still in use in Malaysia.
“I just came to see what things might have been like in days gone by,” he told ST before driving away from the station.
But the governments of Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to revive the 18km Pasir Mas-Rantau Panjang line. Hence, Malaysia is now mulling an extension from Kota Bahru to Rantau Panjang for the upcoming ECRL, a 665km cross-country track linking the ports of Klang in the west to Kuantan in the east, before heading northwards to Kota Bharu.
Madam Siti, 67, who has been doing business in Rantau Panjang for over half a century, told ST: “We are only surviving now because the local council stopped charging us rent since the trains stopped.”
She added: “We hope the extensions happen and bring business back here.”
Phase one of the RM75 billion (S$22.8 billion) ECRL is slated for completion in 2027 after a decade of construction. Although its main business will likely be to ship cargo and shorten the journey linking the Indian and Pacific oceans, it will also bring the first-ever rail passenger service to Terengganu state on the peninsula’s east coast.
An ECRL station is being completed in Jerteh, Terengganu, where residents there currently have to make the 70km trek to Kota Bharu, Kelantan, if they want to fly or take the train to KL or other destinations in the country, as the state airport in Kuala Terengganu is an even farther 100km away.
“It will not only make it much easier to go to KL, but also reduce the cost of goods for our store. Even now, we are ordering from suppliers in KL,” said convenience store owner Liza Abdullah, 49, who goes by “Kak Zah”.
Cost of rail expansion
The impact of Malaysia’s most expensive infrastructure project is already being felt ahead of its launch.
“A lot of the ECRL workers come to buy things from our shop – mostly cigarettes, but also snacks,” said Ms Liza.
This little boon is just the tip of an iceberg that is expected to add 3.8 per cent to Malaysia’s gross domestic product by 2047, two decades after the first ECRL journey.
But over in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, locals blame the ECRL works for worsening the flood situation.
“Only after the construction began did the water get into the shop and damage the goods,” minimart operator Salma Elias, 31, told ST. “We also lose out because we have to close the store until the flood recedes.”
Project owner Malaysia Rail Link has said it will take responsibility for any damage caused by ECRL works and has taken “proactive measures to prepare transport and food supply for flood victims”, as well as aid in repairs and clean-up.
It added that the project design has incorporated flood prevention measures that have been approved by the Drainage and Irrigation Department, and it will continue with regular maintenance work to ensure smooth flows on waterways around its worksites.
KTM will also see improvements to its services, with RM10.7 billion set aside to bring in 62 new train sets from China by 2027. This will increase the frequency of train services as well as replace some of the older stock.
According to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the much-awaited electrified double-track from Gemas to JB – increasing speeds and allowing for trains to pass each other along the line instead of only at stations – will be completed in time before Chinese New Year in February 2026.
“The delay was mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as there were issues in deploying workers and logistics due to lockdowns,” he told ST.
The physical infrastructure is already completed and now the main challenges are completing systems and signalling before a final acceptance test.
As transport connectivity improves nationwide in the coming years, more commuters are expected to take to rail travel.
Mr Wong Kai Xian, 23, the administrator of Malaysia Train & Rail Enthusiasts, a Facebook group with 4,500 members, told ST that there are many places of interest along the rail network worth exploring.
He highlighted Ipoh for the food, Butterworth as the gateway to Penang Island, and lesser-known Dabong for those seeking nature and adventure.
“The potential for rail travel in Malaysia has been increasing and it is expected to continue to grow,” he said. “Today’s ETS and KTM intercity trains are almost fully booked, especially on weekends and public holidays.”