Trains from Johor Bahru to Kota Bharu

You can travel by train from Johor Bahru to Kota Bharu direct on Malaysia’s east coast railway line, also known as the ‘Jungle Line’ as it passes through the heavily forested area of the Cameron Highlands. Johor Bahru is a 5 minute train journey from Singapore. Kota Bharu is 40 km from the border with Thailand across which you enter the town of Sungai Kolok, from where you can take a train to Bangkok. Travel by train from Johor Bharu to Kota Bharu is one of the two routes you can take to travel from Singapore to Bangkok by train.

Train Times from Johor Bahru to Kota Bharu

There is 1 direct train service a day from Johor Bahru to Wakaf Bharu, which is the nearest train station to Kota Bharu.

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Johor Bahru Sentral Station

Trains to Kota Bharu depart from Johor Bahru Sentral Station.

Wakaf Bharu Railway Station

Wakaf Bharu Railway Station is 6.6 km to the west of Kota Bharu’s town centre Jalan Pendek bus station.

Wakaf Bharu to Kota Bharu

From Wakaf Bharu Railway Station there are regular local bus services terminating at Kota Bharu’s town centre bus station on the Jalan Padang Garong Road, which is the main road in Kota Bharu. There are two bus services you can take: Cityliner #19 and Cityline #27. These bus services run from 07:00 to 19:00 everyday and fare from Wakaf Bharu Railway Station to Kota Bharu town centre is 1.60 RM. The journey by bus takes 20 minutes. You can also take a taxi which will get you from the train station to town is about 13 minutes. Agree the price in advance and expect to pay around 1o to 15 RM for the journey. Be aware that at night after the public bus has finished running you are likely to be charged more than you would during daylight hours.

From Kota Bharu’s town centre bus station you can reach the Royal Thai Consulate (to apply for a visa to enter Thailand) by walking eastward 1.8 km along the main road. Go straight and it is on the right hand side of the road. If you need somewhere to stay for the night we recommend the Suria Hotel, which is cheap, near the bus station and not too bad by Kota Bharu standards. If you want to have an alcohol drink then head east on the from bus station along the main road to the excellent Golden City Restaurant, which is on the left hand side of the road before you get to the crossroads. For a cheap journey to the Thai border take Cityline #29 from the town centre bus station to Rantau Panjang, The bus takes 1 hour 20 minutes, costs 5.10 RM per person and departs every 30 minutes during the day until 18:00. The bus stop in Rantau Panjang is less than 100 metres from the Malaysian side of the border.

Next read about Travel from Kota Bharu to Penang