ETS Gold 9321dn Train from Butterworth to Gemas

ETS Gold 9321dn is a once-daily ETS train from Butterworth to Gemas departing at 7.50am. The ETS Gold 9321dn runs as a single train service through KL Sentral without the need to change trains from Butterworth to Gemas. On this new shortened Bangkok to Singapore journey from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal to Woodlands Train Checkpoint (Woodlands CIQ), I opted to do the Butterworth to Singapore train in a single day with a full day of train rides.

Butterworth Railway Station

Heading into Butterworth Railway Station. This is the main entrance when arriving on foot from Butterworth town.

The façade of Butterworth Railway Station.

The arrival and departure screens at Butterworth Railway Station are updated with both the old and new KTM Komuter Northern Sector (Komuter Utara) Timetable from 18 February 2023 which is confusing if you are catching the KTM Komuter Northern Sector.

Heading to the Automated Control Gate (ACG).

Heading through the Automated Control Gate (ACG) with my KTMB Mobile app ticket.

My ETS Gold 9321dn train departure details are displayed on the Automated Control Gate (ACG) screen. This is in contrast the the almost-blank screen on my KTM Komuter Northern Sector 2963dn.

Passengers wait around the concourse as the staircase down to the platform had not opened yet.

The staircase and lift access down to Platform 2 opened at 7.37am, 13 minutes before scheduled departure time.

The end of Coach F is at the foot of the staircase.

Heading to my booked Coach A up front.

93 Class ETS

The interior of the ETS 93 Class. There is only Standard Class seating on the ETS 93 Class train set and ETS Gold service.

My window seat at 5A unfortunately has quite a large bulkhead between the 2 windows, but it was one of the last forward-facing seats available to purchase.

The legroom available on board the ETS 93 Class.

A power socket is located below each pair of seats. The spring cover is quite unnecessary though, and caused a kink in my USB cable.

93 Class ETS 208 would be operating on my ETS Gold 9321dn from Butterworth to Gemas.

The nearest toilet to my coach, at Coach B, was out of use.

The ETS Bistro is located at Coach C.

The Surau is also located at Coach C.

The nearest toilet available to share between coaches A, B, C, and D is at Coach D.

Another toilet is available at Coach E. This brings the total number of toilets available on board ETS 208 to 2, for a total of 312 passengers.

My ETS Gold 9321dn departed from Butterworth Railway Station on time at 7.50am.

Crossing the Prai Swing Bridge.

Passing by Multi Modal Freight Services, Prai (New Yard).

Bukit Mertajam Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Bukit Mertajam Railway Station where more passengers boarded.

Passing by the wye junction towards Tasek Gelugor and Padang Besar on the KTM Northern Line. This section of the wye is only served by KTM Komuter Northern Sector and cargo trains.

Meeting the wye junction from Tasek Gelugor and Padang Besar on the main KTM Northern Line.

The KTM Northern Line merges in to the KTM Butterworth Line alignment from Butterworth. Trains from Butterworth heading south can pass through at speed on this straight alignment.

Heading down south along with the sunrise.

Nibong Tebal Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Nibong Tebal Railway Station.

Parit Buntar Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Parit Buntar Railway Station.

Bagan Serai Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Bagan Serai Railway Station.

Tickets were checked after Bagan Serai Railway Station. Coach A is the last to get checked, with tickets checked from rear to front.

Crossing over Bukit Merah Lake.

Taiping Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Taiping Railway Station.

Passing by the Old Taiping Railway Station when departing.

The morning glare from the sun started to get stronger, especially when seated on the east side of the train.

Heading through Bukit Berapit Tunnel, currently the longest railway tunnel in Malaysia.

Padang Rengas Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Padang Rengas Railway Station, the southern terminus of the KTM Komuter Northern Sector.

Kuala Kangsar Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Kuala Kangsar Railway Station.

Passing by the low platform at Kuala Kangsar Railway Station.

Crossing over Sungai Perak at Enggor, beside the Victoria Bridge.

Quite surprisingly, my ETS Gold 9321dn operated at a constant speed of around 120km/h only throughout the journey on the normal track sector. I know “normal track” it’s a weird term to use, but wait till you get to Sungai Buloh later on.

Sungai Siput Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Sungai Siput Railway Station.

Passing through Tasek Railway Station. Tasek Railway Station is not served by any passenger train services.

Approaching Ipoh Railway Station at a slow speed.

Ipoh Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Ipoh Railway Station.

Batu Gajah Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Batu Gajah Railway Station.

Passing by Batu Gajah Workshop and Depot.

Passing by the old Kampar Railway Station.

Kampar Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Kampar Railway Station.

Crossing over Sungai Batang Padang alongside palm plantations.

Tapah Road Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Tapah Road Railway Station.

By this point, my ETS Gold 9321dn was at almost 100% capacity.

Brunch at ETS Bistro

I popped over to the ETS Bistro for brunch after Tapah Road.

The ETS Gold 9321dn goes non-stop from Tapah Road to Tanjung Malim, so that gives me more time to enjoy my meal.

The menu available on the ETS Gold 9321dn Butterworth to KL Sentral sector was scarce, with only 1 main course of Nasi Padang available.

Nasi Padang Daging Rendang

Since there was only 1 hot meal option, there wasn’t much need to think about what I wanted to eat since it didn’t matter. My choice was either yes or no.

My brunch on board ETS Gold 9321dn of Nasi Padang Daging Rendang (RM11) and a hot Nescafe coffee (RM3).

The ETS Nasi Padang Daging Rendang looks suspiciously like AirAsia’s Nasi Padang Uda Ratman consisting of white rice, beef rendang, stir-fried cassava leaves, ikan bilis balado and green sambal. The taste, however, was quite dry overall. It was probably over-microwaved.