KTM West Coast railway line

The West Coast Line runs from Padang Besar railway station close to Malaysia-Thailand border at Perlis, to Woodlands Train Checkpoint in Singapore. It is called the West Coast rail line because it serves the West Coast states of the Peninsular Malaysia.

The 1,151km line is busier than East Coast Line because the West Coast Line handles many trains such as Virgin Trains, ETS Line, KTM Intercity, KTM Komuter, freight services and International Express.

The major stations are at KL Sentral, Butterworth and JB Sentral.

Line definition
The West Coast railway line consists on the main trunk line from Padang Besar to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint in Singapore.

It also consists of several branch lines from this trunk, namely:
 * Bukit Mertajam Junction to Butterworth
 * Batu Junction to Batu Caves
 * Port Klang Junction to Westport, with further branch lines:
 * Subang Jaya to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (Subang) Airport
 * Port Klang to Northport
 * Pulau Indah to various Wesport shipping terminals
 * Skudai Junction to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas
 * Kempas to Pasir Gudang

Branch lines where the tracks exist but are not used for any service are:
 * Tapah Road to Teluk Intan (abandoned and not connected to the main line)
 * Seremban to Port Dickson

The West Coast railway line connects with the State Railway of Thailand at Padang Besar, while the East Coast line branches off at Gemas.

Double-tracking and electrification
The main trunk of the West Coast railway line is double-tracked and electrified from Padang Besar to Tampines. The tracks were electrified in various phases:


 * 1995: Rawang - Seremban
 * 2003: Butterworth - Rawang
 * 2004: Seremban - Tanjong Pagar West
 * 2012: Butterworth - Padang Besar

In addition to the main line, the following branch lines are also double-tracked and electrified:
 * Bukit Mertajam Junction to Butterworth
 * Batu Junction to Batu Caves
 * Port Klang Junction to Port Klang only, with a single track continuing to Westport and the branch lines to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (Subang) Airport and Northport

The total length of the West Coast railway line which is double-tracked and electrified is 759 km.

From Gemas to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, the West Coast railway line is single track and not electrified. Loops at stations allow trains to pass.

The disused branch lines to Teluk Intan and Port Dickson are also single track and not electrified.

Services
The West Coast railway line is served by a variety of train services:
 * KTM Intercity
 * Tren Rakyat between Butterworth and JB Sentral. Stopped from 19 May 2016
 * Tren Shuttle between Gemas and Johor Bahru Sentral
 * Tren Peninsula between Johor Bahru Sentral and Hat Yai, Thailand, running along the West Coast Line between Johor Bahru Sentral and Hat Yai. Stopped from 19 May 2016.
 * Tren Sutera between Ipoh and JB Sentral. Stopped from 19 May 2016
 * Tren Timuran between Tumpat and JB Sentral, where trains run on the West Coast Line between Gemas and JB Sentral
 * KTM ETS (administratively part of KTM Intercity)
 * Ipoh–KL Sentral ETS between KL Sentral and Ipoh
 * ETS Ekspres between KL Sentral and Padang Besar. Some from KL Sentral to Butterworth only. While some run from Gemas to Padang Besar.
 * ETS Transit between Ipoh and Padang Besar
 * KTM Komuter
 * Seremban Line between Rawang and Seremban
 * Rawang–Tanjung Malim Shuttle between Rawang and Tanjung Malim
 * Port Klang Line between Batu Caves and Port Klang
 * Kamunting–Butterworth–Gurun Line between Kamunting and Gurun. Some trips continue to Padang Besar.
 * Seremban–Tampin/Pulau Sebang Line between Seremban and Tampin
 * Shuttle train services operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu
 * Gemas–JB Sentral Shuttle between Gemas and JB Sentral
 * JB Sentral–Woodlands between JB Sentral and the Woodlands Train Checkpoint
 * International Express between Butterworth and Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Railway Station, running along the West Coast Line between Butterworth and Padang Besar
 * Eastern and Oriental Express luxury tourist train between Woodlands Train Checkpoint and Bangkok, running along the West Coast railway line between Woodlands and Padang Besar

History
The West Coast railway line was developed in stretches between 1885 with the opening of the Taiping-Port Weld Line, and 1932 when the line opened up to Tanjung Pagar, thus spanning the entire west coast of Peninsular Malaysia from Padang Besar on the Malaysia-Thai border to Singapore. The line began with the construction of branches linking coastal ports with inland tin mining areas before they were gradually linked up by the main truck line running through the interior of the West Coast states of Peninsular Malaysia.

The latest new lines to be built were the branch lines to West Port, North Port, Tanjung Pelepas, Pasir Gudang and the North Butterworth Container Terminal. The trunk line had also seen sections becoming disused, abandoned or even removed, with the latest being the closure and subsequent removal of the southernmost stretch of track between the Woodlands Train Checkpoint and Tanjung Pagar in 2011.