Trains from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping

By train the journey from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping is scheduled to take from 40 to 47 minutes depending upon which train you take.

Train Times from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping

There are currently 7 trains a day from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping.

Buy Tickets from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping

Use the Search Box below to buy your train tickets from Bukit Mertajam to Taiping.

Location of Bukit Mertajam Railway Station

Bukit Mertajam Railway Station is located 10.6 km by road to the south east of Butterworth Railway Station.

Location of Taiping Railway Station

About Travel to Taiping

Taiping is the second largest city in Perak State, after Ipoh, with around 250,000 permanent residents. Taiping is often overlooked as a tourist destination in favour of Ipoh, which is located around 60 km to the south east of Taiping. Nonetheless, Taiping has a number of points of interest to visit and it’s a place of great historical importance in relation to the development of modern Malaysia.

Staying Overnight in Taiping

Major hotel booking sites list around 30 hotels in Taiping, compared to over 130 in Ipoh. The range of accommodation is more limited, however, so are the number of tourists who visit Taiping. The best hotel in the city is probably the Flemington Hotel, which is scenically located on the edge of Taiping Lake Gardens. Room rates at the Flemington Hotel are around RM225 a night, including buffet breakfast.

There is also a cluster of more affordable hotels, with room rates of around RM100 per night, located 1 km walking distance to the east of the train station in the busiest part of the city, such as the Barrack Street Hotel and the Epoch Hotel.

Colonial History

Before the expansion of Ipoh in the early 20th Century, Taiping was the major town in Perak State.

Taiping became the state capital of Perak in 1876, and for a time was the main administrative centre of the British colonial government in the Malaya peninsula. During that period Taiping was at the centre of the lucrative trade in tin ore in the Malay peninsula, and this was the reason for the British taking control of the city from groups of feuding Chinese immigrants and making major investments in the local infrastructure.

What makes Taiping important in terms of the development of modern Malaysia is that this is where the British first introduced a range of modern European ideas into the region. The local tourism authority has identified 33 things that happened in Taiping before they happened elsewhere in what would later become Malaysia. These include the development of the first modern prison, the first post office, the first public gardens, the first public library, and the first zoo. In a very real sense Taiping served as the model for the development of many modern institutions in the Malay peninsula.

Places to Visit in Taiping

The most popular visitor attraction in Taiping is its fantastic public park, Taiping Lake Gardens. The park was opened in 1884 created out of what was formerly a shallow tin mine, and was intended for use by the public from the outset. Taiping Lake Gardens is large (640,000 square metres) and takes about 2 hours to walk around. The main features of the park are its 8 lakes and ponds, and an extensive range of trees, some planting in the 19th Century. The park also contains the city’s zoo.

Other points of interest in the city centre include Perak Museum, and colonial era buildings such as St George’s Institution, All Saints’ Church, and Taiping Clock Tower.

Another interesting place to visit is Bukit Larut, located 11 km to the east of Taiping Railway Station. Bukit Larut is a 1,250 metre high hill which was the site of Malaysia’s first ‘hill station’ in the Malay peninsula, which the British named Maxwell Hill. Hill stations were already common in British administered India for use in the summer months to escape the heat by gaining altitude. The British adopted the same idea in Taiping.

From the eastern edge of Taiping city it’s a 3 hour walk to the top of Bukit Larut. There are also cars organised by the municipal authorities to drive visitors up and down the hill for a small fee. Near the summit of Bukit Larut are the remnants of the small houses built for use by the British, and some more modern restaurants and small resorts where visitors can stay overnight.