Sabah State Railway operates a daily service from Tanjung Aru to Tenom covering a distance of 134km. It is the only railway in Borneo with a single line connecting Tanjung Aru to Tenom, a small town in the Interior. Believe it or not, the journey takes about seven and a half hours.
Sabah State Railway in their modernisation process, features brand new air-conditioned coaches fitted with comfortable seats.
To kill the time, there are few things people can do. They can either take a walk to the Beaufort Waterfront, local market, do some window shopping and then have lunch before returning to the station to catch the next train.
Visitors will be surprised that they have to board this very old diesel locomotive with the old passenger and cargo carriages.
This new diesel powered locomotive is capable of doing 100 km/h, leaves Tanjung aru station every morning at 07:45.
It is a scenic ride all the way - from coastline to lowland with rivers, small towns, wetlands, some deforestation, a market or two before arriving Beaufort, a midway station.
The old wooden shops of Kinarut town.
Schedule arrival into Beaufort station is 09:45. The train is terminating here and for those who want to continue to Tenom, they need to change to another train which is only departing at 13:00.
A transit time of 3 hours in Beaufort is a bit too long. There is nothing much to do in this frontier town. For some reasons best known to Sabah State Railway management, the schedule is just not right and inconvenient. They should provide through or otherwise immediate connecting train to Tenom.
Other option is to return to the station early and take a look at the old trains and the coaches.
Comparing to the Tanjung Aru-Beaufort service, it is a total downgrading. Passenger coaches are non-air-conditioned, fitted with only basic seating and ceiling fans.
For visitors, the ride from Beaufort to Tenom is exciting as the train moves through the forests and along the Padas river gorge. It's a total new experience for some.
The rail tracks run parallel along the Padas river most of the way providing a spectacular view of the river and gorge.
There are four main stops along the way. However the train will make non-schedule stop at certain remote platform to pick-up local passengers.
Approaching a short tunnel, before arriving Tenom.
The Tenom Lama bridge, which is just 10 minutes from Tenom town.
Approaching Tenom station.
The Tenom Perkasa hotel is seen on the hill in the back ground - a land mark of Tenom.
Schedule arrival at Tenom is 15:15.
It is tiring to travel by train to Tenom unless Sabah State Railway could provide a better schedule without long transit in Beaufort. Currently, people still prefer to use the air-conditioned Express bus as it takes only 3 hours to Tenom.
The schedule of the return trip to Tanjung Aru is better. The train will depart Tenom at 07:30 arriving Beaufort at 09:50 to connect the Beaufort - Tanjung Aru service departing at 11:00.
Perhaps, no body should complain as the fare per person is less than RM8 for oneway!
Pictures were provided by Shirley, my office staff who did an inspection tour recently.
9 comments:
Hi Wong,
This is a truly informative post especially the part where you mentioned about what to do in Beaufort during the 3 hours layover. I was looking forward to doing exactly the same journey when I go to KK on Jan 1st. It will be my first time riding trains in Sabah. Hopefully everything will be in order in January. Thanks again.
Thank you for this informative post. We plan to take the train from Tanjung Aru to Beaufort and return the same day with 5 persons. We couldnt get seats in the North Borneo steam seats.
This is a very good complete information.
Very informative and pictorial. Thank you.
Do you have any recommendation of things to do in Tenom eg. Agric. park and also where to stay overnight ?
Tenom Perkasa Hotel is recommended or otherwise there is chalet accommodation inside the Agriculture Park.
Hi,
I'm not usually a writer on travel blog posts, but I found this post especially useful. I found myself in KK for a week and thought initially to do the North Borneo Railway experience for a morning (RM 318) but it was fully booked.
I took a Tung Ma Nui Lok Express bus to Tenom one evening at 4pm, 3 hours later I was in Tenom and found a hotel. There's a 7/11 and KFC there, so don't worry about food options!
The next day, I took the 7:30am train from Tenom to Beaufort and I must say it was well worth doing this trip on the train FROM Tenom. The views in the morning were stunning, even from the economy carriage, which I chose for the 'real experience'.
A small layover in Beaufort (arrive 9:50, next train 11:00) and again off on the rails to KK.
Thank you for your post, it was reading this which made me do my trip, and it was most enjoyable. So much cheaper, longer and most authentic than the North Borneo Railway package. Highly recommended!
I am glad that you enjoyed the trip.
The North Borneo Railway tour package is only a short trip to experience on board the colonial-style train carriage of the vintage steam engine train. This package is popular with tourists.
Hello, this is a great post. I have one question. My daughter and I are doing a whirlwind 2 week Borneo trip to celebrate her graduating high school. We are pushed for time and I am planning to catch the bus down to Tenom from Kota Kinabalu on the 21st of December this year. We will then spend the night in Tenom and catch the train back in the morning as I hear the train back is the best trip. From your post, I learnt that the train should arrive back in Tanjung Aru at around 1pm. Our flight back home leaves at 17.30 which means we would have to be at the airport by 14.30. Am I pushing it for time? I realise it's only 15 mins to the airport but worried the train might be late.
Look forward to your response.
Sonya.
Thanks for reading by blog. I am not sure if the schedule for the train from Tenom to Beaufort then to Kota kinabalu in December this year has changed or otherwise. My e-mail address is wonglc89@yahoo.com. If you can give me an e-mail, I will furnish you with the train schedule after checking with the train company. Thanks.
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