Butterworth railway station

Butterworth
Butterworth
; Inter-city rail and Commuter rail station
	Entrance of Butterworth railway station
General information
Location	Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
Owned by	Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Line(s)	West Coast Line
Platforms	2 island platform
Tracks	5
Connections	Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry Terminal; Penang Sentral;
Construction
Parking	Available for free
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	14 September 1967
Rebuilt	2011
Electrified	2015
Services

The Butterworth railway station is a Malaysian railway station located at and named after the town of Butterworth, Penang.

The station is served by the KTM ETS and the KTM Komuter Northern Sector trains. It previously served as the southern end of the International Express from Bangkok, Thailand, which now ends at Padang Besar.^[1]

The station is located near to, and linked via covered pedestrian walkways, the Penang Sentral and the Sultan Abdul Hamid Ferry Terminal for ferries to Penang Island.

The end of the line at this station is "Chainage Zero", and as such, regarded as the starting point of the KTM West Coast Line and also the line to Padang Besar, which is connected to the State Railway of Thailand network. All distances for the two lines are measured from the end of the line here.

Location and locality edit

Station concourse, 2023

The station is located at Butterworth in North Seberang Perai district of Penang, and just easily connected to Butterworth town via Federal Route 1 and also near to Ferry Terminal exit of Butterworth Outer Ring Route (E17).

Due to its connection to the ferry terminal and Penang Sentral bus station, this station has been an important station that serves both Seberang Perai (specifically around Butterworth, Seberang Jaya and Prai) and also Penang Island since its opening. Passengers can change to ferry service to get to Georgetown and further to the rest of the island via local buses, and so does vice versa. Ferries are on an hourly frequency for each direction, but since 2021 is limited to pedestrian only.

Penang Sentral nearby also has a local bus terminal of Seberang Perai sector of Rapid Penang and passenger also can get to various attractions, offices and malls around Butterworth and Seberang Jaya with them.

History edit

The station began operations in 1967 when the railway swing bridge over the Perai River was opened, allowing the rail line which had prior to this terminated at Perai (also known as Prai and Prye), to continue to Butterworth.

Before the railway line was extended to Butterworth, all rail services began from Perai, where ferries to Penang Island also departed.

The railway line between Prai and Bukit Mertajam was opened in July 1899, and as sections of the West Coast Line were completed, allowed trains to run from Prai to Seremban by 1903, and Johor Bahru by 1909. The line to Padang Besar was completed in 1918, allowing the first International Express to run between Prai and Bangkok's Thonburi Station that year.

New station edit

On 5 August 2011, the old Butterworth station building was officially closed and subsequently demolished. It was replaced with a temporary station located about 30m away, next to the KTM Bhd (KTMB) parcel office.^[2]

A new Butterworth railway station was then built as part of the Electric Double Tracking Project.

Train services edit

Train services that provided by Keretapi Tanah Melayu serving KTM ETS and KTM Komuter are:

KTM Komuter Utara: Butterworth–Padang Besar
KTM Komuter Utara: Butterworth–Ipoh
ETS Train No. EP9372/EP9371 "Premium": Butterworth–Gemas via KL Sentral and Ipoh
ETS Train No. EP9176/EP9171 "Premium": Butterworth–KL Sentral

Former services edit

SRT Train 36 International Express: Butterworth–Bangkok
KTM Intercity Train 01/02 Ekspres Rakyat: Butterworth–KL Sentral–Singapore
KTM Intercity Train 10/11 Ekspres Sinaran Utara: Butterworth–KL Sentral
KTM Intercity Train 22 Senandung Mutiara: Butterworth–KL Sentral
KTM Intercity Train 23 Senandung Mutiara: Butterworth–Singapore

North Butterworth Container Terminal edit

The Butterworth station is also connected to a freight terminal known as the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) to handle freight cargo from the south at Johor and from the north at Thailand (via Padang Besar railway station). Until 1 July 2011, the container terminal also sent shipments and received emptied freight rolling stock to and from Kampong Bahru railyard in Singapore near Tanjong Pagar railway station.

Gallery edit

Entrance of the new station, view from right side.
End of the line at the new station.
Another end of the line at the new station taken after the Penang Sentral opened to public on 22 November 2018.
Information board of the station
The Chainage 0 sign between the tracks beneath the pedestrian walkway at the new station.
An ETS Ekspres train at Butterworth Station just before departing for KL Sentral at 1738 on 6 August 2015.
Station concourse above the platform area with the ticketing counter and the old wooden chairs which were previously used in the old Ipoh railway station.
View of the platform area of Butterworth Railway Station
Another view of the platform area of Butterworth Railway Station
Another view of the platform area of Butterworth Railway Station
Signboard of the station.
Platform area of the old Butterworth railway station in February 2011.