KTM Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn from Tumpat to JB Sentral

Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn is the daily overnight sleeper train between Tumpat and JB Sentral, and the last actual express KTM Intercity train sold at express prices with limited stops. Heading back to Singapore, I took Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn to JB Sentral, and then continue on immediately to Bukit Timah Railway Station and Tanjong Pagar Railway Station as I would arrive on 30 June 2023, 12 years since the last KTM trains ran in Singapore.

Tumpat Railway Station

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn rake was shunted in to Tumpat Railway Station Platform 1 at 7.56pm, 34 minutes before scheduled departure. As it was raining, I was in shelter all the way while waiting for my train.

ADNS (Air-conditioned Day/Night Second)

There are 4 ADNS (Air-conditioned Day/Night Second) coaches attached on my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn for the Hari Raya Aidiladha holidays.

Heading to my booked coach at T8.

The interior of the ADNS (Air-conditioned Day/Night Second) coach has 20 lower berths and 20 upper berths.

My lower berth at 16. This faces reverse, however, since this is a bed, I simply flipped the pillow to the other end of the bed.

My berth came along with the wrong mattress, with the slimmer upper berth one placed on my lower berth, causing gaps along the sides of the mattress to the convertible seat.

The thinner upper berth above me for comparison.

25 Class Locomotive 25202 Delima lead my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn from Tumpat to JB Sentral. As Tumpat has no turntable at the moment, the single-cab 25 Class Locomotive 25202 Delima ran long hood forward for the whole journey.

The empty rake of ELA2 also blocked a nice shot of my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn at Tumpat.

AFC (Air-conditioned First Class)

There is 1 AFC (Air-conditioned First Class) coach on my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn.

Seats on the AFC (Air-Conditioned First Class) are laid out in a 2+1 configuration which can be rotated towards the direction of travel.

ASC (Air-conditioned Second Class)

There are 4 ASC (Air-conditioned Second Class) coaches on my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn for the Hari Raya Aidiladha holidays. The interior of the ASC (Hyundai-Padu Sedia) has 60 seats in a 2+2 configuration in a fixed forward or reverse direction.

ABC (Air-conditioned Buffet Coach)

An ABC (Air-conditioned Buffet Coach), also known by most passengers as canteen, is also attached on my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn.

The ABC counter was still being set up at Tumpat. No menus were displayed on this ABC.

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn departed from Tumpat on time at 8.30pm.

Wakaf Bharu Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Wakaf Bharu Railway Station where more passengers boarded.

Departing from Wakaf Bharu Railway Station.

Pasir Mas Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Pasir Mas Railway Station where more passengers boarded.

Departing from Pasir Mas Railway Station.

Tanah Merah Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Tanah Merah Railway Station where more passengers boarded.

Departing from Tanah Merah Railway Station.

Krai Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Krai Railway Station where more passengers boarded. I was just here this afternoon to wait for my Shuttle Timuran 56up.

Departing from Krai Railway Station.

Following departure from Krai, I went to bed, since the next station at Dabong is quite far off, and I had an early start to the day.

Bahau Railway Station

I woke up to the sun at Bahau Railway Station. This doesn’t look right.

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn departed from Bahau Railway Station at 7.05am – 26 minutes delayed.

The sunrise from the Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn.

Heading along the Jungle Railway.

Passing through the former Rompin Railway Station.

Passing through the former Londah Railway Halt.

Approaching the vicinity of Gemas Railway Station.

Crossing the railway crossing at Taman Molek.

Passing by the junction to the wye bypass from the KTM East Coast Line to the KTM Central Line.

Splitting off from the wye bypass.

Passing by Gemas Depot.

Curving along to Gemas Railway Station.

Heading in the start and end of the very short electrified sector of the KTM East Coast Line.

The start and end of the KTM East Coast Line at the junction west of Gemas Railway Station.

Looking back at the KTM East Coast Line from KM0.00.

Taking multiple crossovers to Platform 6, with the connecting ETS Gold 9420up in sight.

Entering Gemas Railway Station.

Gemas Railway Station

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn arrived at Gemas Railway Station at 7.51am, 17 minutes delayed,  allowing the connection to ETS Gold 9420up for passengers travelling onwards to KL Sentral and Padang Besar (why would you do that?) to take place in good time.

By using Platform 6, a cross-platform interchange is provided for passengers from my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn to the connecting ETS Gold 9420up with ease.

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn departed from Gemas Railway Station at 7.58am – 14 minutes delayed.

Crossing the border from Negeri Sembilan to Johor over Sungai Gemas.

Segamat Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Segamat Railway Station.

ABC (Air-conditioned Buffet Coach)

With a long non-stop sector after Segamat, I headed over to the ABC for breakfast.

It was a crowded morning on board the ABC, but actually not many passengers had ordered food from the ABC. Some were only using it to chill, while others brought their own outside food in to eat.

An ice box of puddings were opened for sale just as it got to my turn, so I took the opportunity to try one for fun.

Tables were not ideal to eat on, with dishes from the first round of morning crowd still found on the tables with spillages.

My hearty breakfast this morning.

I got a Bee Hoon Goreng + Telur Mata (RM8), Kopi Ais (RM3) and a yam pudding (RM2). Typical breakfast food, but with an extra dessert to boot.

The Bee Hoon Goreng + Telur Mata was freshly microwaved upon order with a basic taste but enough to fill me up for the morning.

For RM2, I had expected the new Yam Pudding to be almost tasteless but surprisingly it packed lots of taste from the flavour powder. The texture was also very silky, similar to Lao Ban. Not bad at all.

Kluang Railway Station

Making a long stop at Kluang Railway Station as my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn had caught up with the schedule thanks to the long non-stop running since Segamat., arriving in Kluang at 9.50am, 23 minutes early.

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn was too long for the temporary platform at Kluang Railway Station.

The rear of my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn was stopped in the future Kluang Railway Station, giving me a sneak preview from on board the train.

The new platforms at Kluang Railway Station which look like just another double-tracked railway station in Malaysia.

The view of the temporary platform at Kluang Railway Station from the future Kluang Railway Station.

Departing from Kluang Railway Station just as the rain started again.

Mengkibol Railway Station

Approaching Mengkibol Railway Station.

Entering the loop line of Mengkibol Railway Station for crossing with the delayed Ekspres Selatan 42up. My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn is supposed to have just passed through Mengkibol Railway Station with Ekspres Selatan 42up waiting instead.

The new Mengkibol Railway Station with a short platform as it is mainly a freight station.

Crossing with the Ekspres Selatan 42up at Mengkibol Railway Station.

On a weekday, the Ekspres Selatan 42up hauls just 3 ASC (Air-conditioned Second Class) coaches. An ABC is still provided for food sales.

Mengkibol Railway Station currently operates out of a temporary cabin.

Departing from Mengkibol Railway Station.

I headed back to the ABC for some morning tea as it was going to be another non-stop sector all the way to Kulai. I ordered a box of sliced cake (RM3) and a cup of hot Teh O (RM2).

I’m surprised with the new offerings on board the ABC, first with the puddings, and now with sliced cakes.

I was surprised to be stopping at Layang-Layang Railway Station, perhaps for operational purposes. This is not a scheduled stop for the Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn. However, there was a gypsum train on the main line, so this could be the reason.

Passing through the future Layang-Layang Railway Station.

Overtaking the gypsum train at Layang-Layang Railway Station.

Kulai Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Kulai Railway Station.

There was a delay in departure as some passengers at the front decided not to alight until when the train was ready to depart.

Passing by Kempas Baru Depot on the new Gemas-Johor Bahru Electrified Double Track Project (EDTP) alignment.

An Asiakom ballast train on the new EDTP alignment.

Kempas Baru Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Kempas Baru Railway Station where most passengers alighted.

Departing from Kempas Baru Railway Station.

Passing by the empty rake of the Ekspres Selatan 42up stabling on the main line, which will follow behind my Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn on the next block to JB Sentral.

Curving along south of Kempas Baru Railway Station.

The junction to the KTM Pasir Gudang Line south of Kempas Baru Railway Station, with the new Gemas-Johor Bahru Electrified Double Track Project (EDTP) viaduct running over it leading to the new Kempas Baru Railway Station.

The new EDTP viaduct and alignment provides a straighter route through Kempas Baru via the new Kempas Baru Railway Station, easing the curve radius, providing higher speed limits for ETS trains in future.

Passing under the new EDTP viaduct and looking at the 2 concurrent junctions to the to the KTM Pasir Gudang Line.

Approaching the temporary junction to the EDTP alignment.

A derailer is installed on the EDTP alignment before meeting the active main line. Don’t think this area would be fun to derail on in an emergency.

Passing by the temporary KM0.00 for the new EDTP alignment.

Heading on the final stretch to JB Sentral with the second track being laid.

Passing by the future RTS Link Wadi Hana Depot.

Passing under the new widened viaduct for the Tebrau Highway Malaysia Federal Route 3.

Entering Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral).

Catenary poles are being installed at Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral).

Entering the covered platforms of Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral).

Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral)

My Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn arrived at Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral) right on time at 12.30pm despite the earlier delays.

25 Class Locomotive 25202 Delima operating long hood forward till the end.

The old Johor Bahru Railway Station as seen from Johor Bahru Sentral Railway Station (JB Sentral).

Heading up the escalator to the exit.

The Shuttle Tebrau 78up had also just arrived, causing a human jam to exit from the platforms with 1 escalator up for 2 trains.

Heading out of JB Sentral Gate B with hundreds of passengers.

The façade of JB Sentral. Here, I headed to get lunch before my connecting Shuttle Tebrau 81dn train back to Singapore. It’s slower to wait for the train on an off-peak weekday afternoon, but I wanted to conclude this train trip with a train.

Conclusion

The Ekspres Rakyat Timuran 27dn is not the fastest way to travel from Kelantan to Johor, but it is certainly a comfortable way to travel with a proper bed to sleep for the night, and catering facilities on board for supper, breakfast, or tea. It’s also currently the only through express train to span the whole of Peninsular Malaysia from north to south, which makes it another train to conveniently traverse the span of Peninsular Malaysia. Ironically, flying back on the exact date of my travel would have costed about the same, but I decided to take the train anyway so as to continue down to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station properly by train on 30 June 2023, 12 years since the last KTM trains ran in Singapore.