Parking Available, free. Electrified 2015 Rebuilt 2014 Tracks 5 | Disabled access Yes Opened 14 September 1967 Platforms in use 2 | |
 | ||
Location Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. Owned by Keretapi Tanah Melayu
State Railway of Thailand Line(s) KTM Intercity
KTM ETS
KTM Komuter Northern Sector
SRT Padang Besar Branchline Address 12000 Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia Owners Keretapi Tanah Melayu, State Railway of Thailand Similar Padang Besar railway st, Hat Yai Junction Railway, Bukit Mertajam railway st, Seremban railway station, Gemas railway station | ||
The Butterworth railway station is a Malaysian railway station located at and named after the town of Butterworth, Penang.
Contents
The station is served by KTM Intercity, KTM ETS (both ETS Ekspres and ETS Transit), SRT Padang Besar Sector and KTM Komuter Northern Sector 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.
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.