We had reached the KL Sentral station a little too early to catch the Komuter from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth which was at 7.50 AM. We had more than half an hour to ourselves before we boarded our train so we decided to walk around. But before that, we had to find our boarding point. Just the previous evening on our way back from Batu Caves to Kuala Lumpur, we had ended our journey at this station and yet, today we were trying to find it. I know it’s embarrassing but I have an excuse! The KL Sentral complex, which houses so many everything from offices, to malls to apartments to Malaysia’s largest railway station was too big and too organized for a rail-head.
Before we could notice the changes in the terrain outside, the Komuter had already left behind the skyscrapers of Kuala Lumpur and was entering the beautiful Malaysian countryside. The quick transition from the cityscape to the lush green fields and beautiful hills not far from the tracks came as a pleasant surprise to us.
Beautiful small towns came and were left behind as our train kept moving ahead without stopping at any of them. In fact, if I my memory serves right, our train did not make a lot of stoppages, if any. The terrain outside at times seemed very much like India, with small tinned-roofed houses and small towns which abruptly gave way to vast green fields. At times, the views outside also reminded me of the lush green hills of Assam, over which hung the monsoon clouds.
By noon when we finally de-boarded, we could literally smell the sea. We were on our way to the Penang island but we had decided to not take the road (by crossing the Penang bridge) to reach Penang. Instead, we were to take the more exciting option of the ferry to cross over to the other side. Access to the ferry was a straight-forward one and soon we found ourselves paying for the ferry tickets at the counter.
Train from Butterworth/Georgetown to Kuala Lumpur
The KTM Komuter train connects Butterworth (and Penang) to KL with an express service. The journey takes around 3.5 hours and at RM59 per ticket, is a great value for money. The daily service starts from 9 AM in the morning (7.50 AM on Friday, Saturday & Sunday) and the last train departs KL at 8.30 PM. Even though tickets can be booked online, it can get tricky at times so a Malaysian friend had helped us with buying our tickets from the counter. Thanks Kat ! 🙂
Do you enjoy train journeys and like finding similarities and differences in the landscape?
This is a part of Malaysia that I didnt even see 🙁 It looks so much like Indian country side during rains 😀
It indeed was, a little different at times but quite similar otherwise. We wanted to have a peek at the country-side so we opted to take a train instead of flying out of Kuala Lumpur to Penang. The ferry crossing from butterworth to Georgetwon was another reason 😉 .
I can see you love trains! I have done long road trips in Malaysia but have not taken a train there!
This is a new found-love mam, all thanks to the wife who is a Railway karmachaari 😉
And yes, I am quite liking it 🙂
Interesting. Loved the ones in Europe. It is my second go-to option after road trips
We liked it too. It’s fun and it’s different.
Haha, you’re welcome 🙂 I have tried the electric train service from KL to Ipoh only, maybe one day I shall try up to Butterworth. You’re not the only who could not locate the departure point in KL Sentral – I tried to locate it a few times when I went there to purchase your tickets! But that’s Malaysia for you 😉
Hehe..! It was fun nonetheless 😉