Location
This station is located in Padang Besar, Perlis in Malaysia, about 200 metres south of the actual border between Malaysia and Thailand. This station should not be confused with another station, named Padang Besar (Thai), which is located on the Thai town of Padang Besar and fully operated by SRT. The two stations are about 400 metres apart.
Despite being in Malaysian territory, owned by Malaysia's Railway Asset Corporation and operated by KTMB, the station is served by both Malaysian and Thai railway services, allowing for passengers to transfer between the two railway systems. SRT operates a ticket office for their trains operating from the station and accept both Malaysian Ringgit and Thai Baht for ticket purchases. Malaysian and Thai immigration, customs and quarantine checkpoints are also co-located within this station specifically for cross-border train passengers.
Padang Besar railway station also has a freight yard that serves as a dry port for the northern part of Malaysia and Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand Growth Triangle.
The station can be accessed by road which is linked to Federal Route 7 just outside Padang Besar town. The station can also be accessed via a pedestrian walkway which links the station to Padang Besar town as well as the Malaysian immigration, customs, quarantine and security checkpoint for the road border crossing. Taxis and cross-border van services to the Thai city of Hat Yai are available from the station.
Train services
Padang Besar railway station is served by trains operated by both Keretapi Tanah Melayu and the State Railway of Thailand.
Train services by Keretapi Tanah Melayu [1] serving Malaysian destinations are:
- KTM Komuter Utara - 16 arrivals/departures a day from/to Butterworth
- KTM ETS - 4 arrivals/departures per day from/to KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur
- KTM ETS - 1 arrival/departure per day from/to Segamat, Johor via KL Sentral
- KTM Intercity MySawadee 1004/1005 - stop-by for immigration service of train passenger between KL Sentral and Hat Yai. Seasonal trains with irregular dates each month.
Train services by the State Railway of Thailand [2] serving destinations in Thailand are:
- Train 45/46 Special Express - 1 arrival/departure per day from/to Krung Thep Aphiwat, combines service with Train 37/38 Special Express from Sungai Kolok at Hat Yai
- Trains 947/948 and 949/950 Ordinary Express - 2 arrivals/departures from/to Hat Yai
Since 1st September 2016, no regular train service crosses the border and continues down south towards Butterworth, Malaysia, after the termination State Railway of Thailand's International Express no longer serving Butterworth, Malaysia and the termination of Keretapi Tanah Melayu's Senandung Langkawi from Johor Bahru and later, Ekspres Semenanjung service to Hat Yai. There are talks to resume these services from 2025. [3]
KTM has introduced a seasonal Ekspres Sawadee between Kuala Lumpur and Hat Yai in October 2022, where passengers disembark at the station to go through cross-border formalities before reboarding the train for the onward journey, similar to the practice for the previous International Express and Ekspres Semenanjung. [4]
Below is the list of train services available as of 11/3/2024.
Komuter (Commuter)| Service | Train No. | Departure | Towards | Note |
|---|
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2941 | 05:20 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2943 | 05:40 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2945 | 06:00 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2947 | 06:20 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2951 | 07:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2955 | 08:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2959 | 10:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2963 | 12:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2967 | 14:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2969 | 15:05 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2971 | 15:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2975 | 16:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2979 | 17:05 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2981 | 17:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2985 | 18:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2987 | 19:05 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2991 | 19:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
| KTM Komuter Northern Sector | 2997 | 21:35 | Butterworth, Pulau Pinang | |
MySawasdee (Seasonal KL-Hatyai direct service)| Service | Train No. | Arrival | Towards | Note |
|---|
| MySawasdee | EXPRESS 1004 | Unknown | Hat Yai Junction, Songkhla | Seasonal, not allowed to board from Padang Besar. |
| MySawasdee | EXPRESS 1005 | Unknown | KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur | Seasonal, not allowed to board from Padang Besar. |
Railway border crossing
The Padang Besar railway station has Malaysia's only co-located or juxtaposed border crossing checkpoint where customs, immigration and quarantine facilities for both Malaysia and Thailand are housed inside the station which is wholly located inside Malaysia territory (200 metres south of the border).
The facilities for each country operate from separate counters inside the railway station building at the platform level. After disembarking from a train, rail passengers are processed for exiting or entering both countries by walking from one counter to the other before boarding trains travelling into the relevant countries. [5]
While the checkpoints at the station bears the same entry and exit point names as the road immigration checkpoints, the facilities in the station operates separately and is only for cross-border rail passengers. The facilities only open when Thailand trains arrive at and depart from the station, thus making clearance not possible after the last train to Bangkok departs at 6.00 pm Malaysian time.
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Padang Besar
