Taking the commuter from Arau to Alor Setar

Returning back to the 12-21 January trip which now concentrates on northern Peninsular Malaysia.

Wednesday morning, 18th January 2017. After spending the night at the Perlis state mosque in Arau I walked to the Arau train station.

It is situated just about 300 metres behind the mosque.

Actually I have walked here the previous night to get a Komuter (commuter) train to Alor Setar. But  I missed the 9 o'clock or service by just by minute.

The following train, the last service for the day was scheduled to stop here 2 hours later. That made me decide to spend the night at the mosque which could be clearly seen from the station.

In the morning the service is more regular.

Soon a Komuter train arrived. This picture was taken at 7.44am.

For information the Komuter service starts from Padang Besar at the Thai border down south to Butterworth in Pulau Pinang. That covers a distance of more than 150 km, further than that covered by the Klang Valley Komuter service.

This is the first time I took the northern Komuter service. I understand it was started some time last year, after the affected portion of  electric railway double tracking project was fully completed.

What is interesting is the service plies through vast tracts of paddy or rice fields.

After 20 minutes or so being on the train I could see parts of the city of Alor Setar.

The city is situated about 37 km south of Arau. At 8.09 am I was already well out of the train.

Time to have a look at Alor Setar...