The Train from Kuala Lumpur to Penang

Daughters 3 and 1 in their upper sleeping berths on the train from Kuala Lumpur to Penang

When it was finally time to move on from KL to the island of Penang, we opted to take the night train. We did this for two reasons.

First, we all love trains. I don’t know why. There is simply something civilized and romantic about clacking your way through the countryside aboard a train. I guess it doesn’t hurt that there is generally enough room to stretch fully out as well.

The second reason we like to take trains is because in taking a night train, we subsidize our travel costs by saving on a hotel that night. If the cost of the train is less than the cost of our hotel bill (which is not usually the case, but we can dream), we actually come out ahead money!

So we packed up our things, checked out of our hotel, and hit the streets of KL to make our way to the train station. The trip there was fairly easy because:

1. We had been to the train station many times and knew the way

2. KL decided not to randomly close all the streets between us and the train station making it impossible to get there

3. Our train didn’t leave until 10pm, but we were tired and out of things to do by 6:30, so we gave ourselves three and a half hours to get there

We were in “superior class” berths. They cost us about RM45 (about US$10) each. We had ordered the tickets ahead of time from easybook.com.

Daughter 2 in her sleeping berth

At night, curtains provide everyone some degree of privacy

I generally really like squatty potties. But they can be a bit tricky on a swaying train

We arrived at Butterworth Station quite early — about 6am. Butterworth is on the mainland of Malaysia, so to get to the island of Penang, you have to take a ferry. Almost everyone on the train was headed to Penang, so we just got off with them and followed them to the ferry. There were also plenty of signs. It’s a 5–10 minute walk and pretty much impossible to get lost with just the tiniest touch of common sense.

The ferry costs RM7.7 (less than US$2) to go from the mainland to the island (it is free to come back), and ferries leave fairly frequently, so you never have to wait very long. The crossing is uneventful. It is not particularly scenic, so just find a comfortable seat and relax for the short ride.

When the ferry reaches Georgetown, on the island of Penang, it is a short walk to the main street where you will find taxis as well as the free bus that runs throughout the old part of town.

Well… you will find the free bus unless you, like us, visit when the free bus is not running. Then, if you are like us, you will load up your bags and walk the better part of a kilometer to your hotel through the heat and humidity of wonderfully scenic Georgetown.

Because travel, we got very sweaty.

This is just good advice in general