Padang Besar railway station

Location
	Padang Besar Padang Besar station in Malaysia

Padang Besar
Padang Besar
; Inter-city rail and Commuter rail station
	Platform 1 of Padang Besar station
General information
Other names	ปาดังเบซาร์ (Thai)
Location	Padang Besar, Perlis; Malaysia
Operated by	Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Line(s)	West Coast Line
Platforms	4
Tracks	5
Train operators	Keretapi Tanah Melayu; State Railway of Thailand;
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	Available, free.
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	1 July 1918
Rebuilt	January 2013
Electrified	25 kV AC, 50 Hz
Services
Location
Location
	Padang Besar Padang Besar station in Malaysia

The Padang Besar railway station (Stesen Keretapi Padang Besar) is a railway station located at and named after the town of Padang Besar, Perlis in Malaysia which is located at the Malaysia-Thailand border.

It is the northernmost station of the west coast line and the line connects to the State Railway of Thailand's rail network via its Southern Line here.

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 Gemas, Negeri Sembilan 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, combined service with Train 37/38 Special Express in Hat Yai
Trains 947/948 and 949/950 Ordinary Express - 2 arrivals/departures from/to Hat Yai

Besides the 3 Thai train services, there are currently no regular trains going across the Malaysia–Thailand border with the State Railway of Thailand's International Express no longer serving Butterworth, Malaysia and the termination of Keretapi Tanah Melayu's Senandung Langkawi and later, Ekspres Semenanjung service to Hat Yai.

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.^[3]

Below is the list of train services available as of 11/3/2024.

Electric Train Service (ETS)
Service	Train No.	Departure	Towards
KTM ETS	9273	07:30	Kuala Lumpur Sentral station
KTM ETS	9275	09:35	Kuala Lumpur Sentral station
KTM ETS	9277	13:40	Kuala Lumpur Sentral station
KTM ETS	9425	15:50	Gemas, Negeri Sembilan
KTM ETS	9279	16:45	Kuala Lumpur Sentral station

Komuter (Commuter)
Service	Train No.	Departure	Towards
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

State Railway of Thailand
Service	Train No.	Departure	Towards
ORDINARY EXPRESS	948	11:15	Hat Yai Junction, Songkhla
ORDINARY EXPRESS	950	16:40	Hat Yai Junction, Songkhla
SPECIAL EXPRESS	46	18:00	Krung Thep Aphiwat, Bangkok

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.^[4]

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.