West Coat Line

West Coast Line

You can travel by rail all the way from Singapore to Bangkok using as few as 2 trains which, if you want to go straight through, take around a day and a half to complete the journey. Or you can make it a little more relaxed.....

Start by exploring the historic colonial City State of Singapore featuring the iconic Raffles Hotel, first opened in 1889 - why not pop in for a taste of its most famous export, the Singapore Sling cocktail! When you are ready to move on, head to the north of the island to the un-poetically named Woodlands Train Checkpoint (opened in 2011) to board your train and head over the Johor Strait causeway.

Stop in Kuala Lumpur, the vibrant capital city of Malaysia, now home to 1.6 million Malaysians and still growing. Kuala Lumpur means "muddy confluence" in Malay as it sits where the Klang and Gombak rivers meet, starting life in the 1850's around the expanding tin mines of the Klang Valley. Now you can stop and visit Merdeka Square, the Petronas Tower, the National Palace and a host of ornate Mosques.

While you are there, perhaps take a branch line detour down to Port Dickson, around 60 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, which is a growing holiday destination with over ten miles of beaches on which to relax.

Back in Kuala Lumpur, continue your journey north to the gateway city of Butterworth, named after John William Butterworth, a former British Governor of the Malacca Straits Region. From here you can catch one of the regular departures of the quick ferry (15 minutes) over to the island of Penang from where you can also get the train to Arau, handily placed for the ferry terminal at Kuala Perlis for crossings to another popular tourist destination, Langkawi Island.

From Butterworth, you can also board an overnight train all the way to Bangkok, capital city of neighbouring Thailand and one of Asia's bigger cities (population 8 million plus).

Bangkok started as a 15^th Century trading post in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, becoming a central part of the rise of Siam and, through the 19^th Century, its eventual modernisation into the country of Thailand. Modern visitors can still step back in time by visiting some of the finest Buddhist temples, including Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew, or the Vimanmek Mansion inside Dusit Palace, the world's largest teak building. Shopping is always popular here, either in the regular stores and malls of the city centre, or perhaps at Taling Chan Floating Market out in the bay.

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