Our rail adventure begins today for we fly from Kuching to Singapore, train to Johor Bahru and then the overnight train to near the Thai border on Malaysia’s east coast and overnight at Kota Bharu.
We woke at 0600 and had a light breakfast at home before using a Grab (like Uber) service to the airport where we dropped Jo’s. There was time for a coffee and a bite (in Jo’s case) before going airside. Kuching airport’s international departure area has nearly nothing available so there’s no point going airside too early.
The AirAsia flight to Singapore left at 0940 (10 mins early) and arrived at Changi T4 at 1100 (20 mins early). The long taxi did see us disembarking ahead of schedule still.
Immigration was slow today. After that, we had about 2h30 to kill before heading to Woodlands CIQ. Time went quickly charging our phones, messaging and also a western lunch of baguettes/rolls for a change … my first western meal in 2 weeks!
Coming in to land in Singapore, the world’s most surprising tropical island … so they say.
We left the airport at 1440 in a taxi with a very friendly, well-spoken driver. We got dropped off at the Woodlands CIQ around 1515. The train station adjoins the main CIQ complex. We had to swap our home-printed tickets here for real ones here as the station was not equipped with scanners. Waiting was in an un-airconditioned enclosed overhead bridge over the tracks. This has got to be the most basic transport facility in this highly-developed country apart from bus-stops. But it was OK.
We were allowed through to immigration about 25 mins before departure. First, we were stamped out of Singapore then into Malaysia before boarding the train. It was a bit of a walk with some backtracking. The train nearly filled up and was free-seating despite seat selection being offered at online purchase.
Settling in for the five minute train ride from Singapore’s Woodland Station to Johor Bahru’s JB Sentral Station.
View from the five minute train ride, while on the causeway.
We left a couple of minutes after the scheduled time of 1630 and got into Johor Bharu after five minutes of diesel chugging over the causeway. Walking up into the JB Sentral station we were in a waiting/shopping area which was joined by overhead bridge to a large mall.
We enjoyed dinner at Thai Express in the mall. It was a pretty awesome meal, and even more amazing that it was a franchise restaurant where the food would have been semi-prepared and cooked by relatively low-skilled staff.
KL Sentral Railway Station in Johor Bahru.
Meal from Thai Express in Johor Bahru.
We were back at JB Sentral about 40 minutes before the 1900 departure. I got some pastries and canned coffee for breakfast before sitting down to wait for a boarding announcement. It didn’t come until departure time when we were told there would be a 30 minute delay. Boarding started soon after.
On the platform searching for the correct coach.
On board, looking for the right bunk.
We had lower bunks on the sleeper train. The beds were all made up with old but clean sheets. There was room for me to lie down and put my pack beside my feet but others with big luggage had to leave them in the aisle (but passengers and crew, even with meal cart, seem to put up with it).
We left soon after the 19:30 revised departure time and got horizontal time about an hour later. I couldn’t sleep straight away but dozed from around midnight till around 0700. I had to help my sleeping efforts with a sleeping pill around 0300. It wasn’t deep sleep due to the rocking, jiggling and screeching. But it was long enough for me to feel rested. The East Coast line obviously utilises a old unrefined train! Also, I caught the occasional whiff of smoke from people smoking somewhere against the rules 🙂
Settling into our bunks.
Settling into our bunks.
Our route tonight.