RAIL REKINDLED As Malaysia's train network expands, so do its horizons

For work, for adventure, and for memories—Malaysia's vital railways are returning to the fore. With plans to build more links, what does the future hold for this mode of transport?

- Shannon Teoh

ALOR SETAR, Kedah/DABONG, Kelantan—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.