New train service to link Bangkok and Penang

[reader]

From The Thaiger

Thailand will launch a new train service linking Bang Sue in Bangkok to Penang, Malaysia, within the next two to three months. The initial phase will be a six-month trial period, marking a significant step in cross-border transportation.

The announcement was made yesterday, August 20, by Ekarat Sriarayapong, head of the Governor’s Office of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). Awirut Thongnet, Deputy Governor of the SRT, attended the 42nd KTMB – SRT Joint Conference in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, from August 13 to 16 to discuss expanding railway cooperation between Thailand and Malaysia.

The meeting approved the principle of operating a train service from Bangkok’s Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal to Padang Besar and Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia.

[thaiophilus]

So, apart from switching the Bangkok terminus from Hualamphong to Krung Thep Aphiwat, basically they are just winding the clock back to before 2016, when there was a daily express train between Bangkok and Butterworth.

[Keithambrose]

6 hours ago, thaiophilus said:

So, apart from switching the Bangkok terminus from Hualamphong to Krung Thep Aphiwat, basically they are just winding the clock back to before 2016, when there was a daily express train between Bangkok and Butterworth.

Sounds fairly typical!

[FunFifties]

That's great news. November last year I looked into going from Butterworth to Chumphon (to catch a boat to Koh Tao) by train, but was only possible to go to Padang Besar and then I would have had to take bus or taxi to Hat Yai to reconnect to rail. I Ended up booking a seat on a shuttle bus that took me directly from my hotel in Georgetown to Hat Yai where I got on the train.