The Taiping railway station (Malay: Stesen keretapi Taiping; Jawi: ستيسين کريتاڤي تايڤيڠ) is a Malaysiantrain station located at and named after the town of Taiping, Perak.
Malaysia's first railway station was situated in Taiping and was opened in 1885 when the Taiping-Port Weld Railway Line, Malaysia's first, was opened.[1] The current modern station is the third railway station to be built in Taiping. It was built as part of the Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrification and Double-Tracking Project which was completed in 2014.
Taiping station is situated exactly at Jalan Stesen, close to the town centre. Given its status as a historical town, Taiping locates some popular landmarks such as Taiping Lake Gardens and Zoo Taiping.
Taiping station is considered the central station for the entire Larut Matang and Selama district, which include towns of Batu Kurau, Changkat Jering, Kuala Sepetang, Trong and so on, with both Komuter and ETS services make their stop here. However for Komuter, Kamunting has its own station which helps cover the northern part of the district.
History
Old station building situated next to the new station
The first Taiping railway station was opened in 1885 and is situated where the King Edward VII Primary School now stands. The station was officiated by Sir Hugh Low.[2][3] The station was the eastern terminus of the Taiping-Port Weld Railway Line, Malaysia's first railway line. The tracks of the line no longer exist as they were dismantled in the 1980s.
The second station, which replaced the original Taiping railway station, was the relocated to the Jalan Stesen site between the 1890s to early 1900s. This station was in operation until it was replaced by a new station that was built as part of the Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrification and Double-Tracking Project. The old station is still standing and is being preserved.
The new station, which is situated to the northeast of the second station, began operations on 27 February 2014. The KTM ETS's ETS Transit began serving this station when services commenced on 10 July 2015. A day later on 11 July 2015, ETS Ekspres trains began serving this station.