I HAD the pleasure of travelling on the electric train service (ETS) to Butterworth recently.
It had been some time since I visited Penang and I wanted to use the ETS to go to Butterworth and then take the ferry to Penang.
I remember using the old ferry a few years ago when vehicles were allowed on it.
I booked the ETS online and being a senior citizen I only paid RM90 for a return trip to Butterworth.
An adult would have paid RM76 one way for the trip.
The discounted cost was the reason I decided to use the ETS.
I took the ETS from KL Sentral and it left on the dot at 11.08am.
There was no delay throughout the whole journey and it reached every station precisely as noted on the schedule.
Since I was travelling on a weekday, there were not that many passengers on board.
My coach was sparsely occupied and I had a four-seater with a tabletop of my own.
Below my seat was a three-pin plug to charge a handphone or tablet or any other device.
And on the electronic running screen was information on the approaching station, the temperature, which was fixed at 21°C, and the running speed of the train which varied between 95km/h and 135 km/h.
The coach was quite cold while the weather outside was hot and the journey was smooth even when the ETS was travelling at top speed.
At precisely 3.23pm I reached Butterworth, the last station. At the station, I was directed to the ferry terminal which was connected to the ETS station.
This surprised me because, in the old days, we had to walk outside the station along the bus terminal to get to the ferry terminal.
It would take about 10 to 20 minutes to reach the terminal.
But today, there has been a drastic and fantastic change, the ferry terminal is connected to the railway station.
I did not need to go outside the station because there was a long passageway with clear signs directing me to the ferry terminal from the railway station.
It was like walking through an airport terminal. Within minutes I was at the ferry terminal.
Being a senior citizen I was asked for my IC and was told to use my IC at the gate to gain entry into the ferry waiting lounge.
I was surprised that I was not charged for the ferry ride.
The new ferry terminal has been upgraded with modern facilities and an air-conditioned waiting terminal.
At precisely 4pm we were let into the ferry which was air-conditioned and had two decks.
Everything was done relatively orderly. It was a 10-minute ride to Penang Island.
The ferry docked at Swettenham Pier and at the pier, there was a huge ocean holiday cruise Spectrun Of The Seas docked. Many people were busy taking pictures of the gigantic ship.
I walked out of the pier and there were buses and taxis waiting at the bus stop.
There has been a tremendous and drastic change in the transport hub.
It wasn’t long ago that passengers from the Butterworth railway station used to walk along the bus terminal to get to the ferry terminal in the hot sun.
And the old ferry terminal was open air and people had to sit on benches in the heat of the day.
The olden-day ferry, though it served its purpose, is a far cry from the modern state-of-the-art new ferry.
And the old ferry docked at Pangkalan Raja Tun Uda where all the Rapid Penang buses were parked.
Today, the bus terminal is still there but not as busy as in the heydays.
My trip to Penang on the newly upgraded ferry terminal was a splendid experience.
The enclosed passageway from the railway station to the ferry terminal is like walking into an airport terminal.
Samuel Yesuiah
Seremban
