Butterworth railway station

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Butterworth 22px 24px
File:Butterworth New 2.jpg
View of the platform area of Butterworth Railway Station
Location Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
Owned by Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Line(s) KTM Intercity
KTM ETS
KTM Komuter
Platforms 2 island platform
Tracks 5
Construction
Parking Available, free.
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened September 14, 1967
Rebuilt 2014
Electrified 2015
Services
Preceding station   Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Intercity)   Following station
Terminus North-South Line
towards Woodlands
towards Hat Yai
North-South Line
Trains change direction at Bukit Mertajam Junction for a different route
Terminus
Preceding station   Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Komuter)   Following station
Terminus Kamunting-Butterworth-Gurun Line
Preceding station   State Railway of Thailand   Following station
Southern Line
Padang Besar Branch
Terminus

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

The station is served by KTM Intercity, KTM ETS (both ETS Ekspres and ETS Transit) and KTM Komuter (Kamunting-Butterworth-Gurun Line) trains. It is also the southern end of the International Express from Bangkok, Thailand.

The station is located near to, and linked via covered pedestrian walkways, the Butterworth temporary bus terminal and the Sultan Abdul Hamid Ferry Terminal for ferries to Penang Island. A free shuttle van also ferries passengers between the railway station and the arrival/departure point of the ferry terminal.

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.

History

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

On 4 August 2011, the old Butterworth station building was officially closed and subsequently demolished. Railway services operated from a temporary station located about 30 metres away from the old station near its railyard.[1]

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

North Butterworth Container Terminal

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

External links

References

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