luxury train from Singapore to Bangkok

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_i ... D=10338358

Hard to believe these carriages were stripped and rebuilt in a town only 30km from my home .

i have covered his route a couple of times , but in 2nd class open sleeper . still great scenery , and great food .

David,

That $3899 price tag, is that in NZ currancy or USD (United States Dollars)? I'm smelling another newlywed experience... if I ever get married. Just currious.

that would be New Zealand dollars , it does seem a good deal . ( around $ 2700 USD ).Airfare component would be more from the states . Perhaps demand is down due to Malaysia been a muslim country , i dont know .
the BBC have a tv series , great railway journeys , which did a segment on this train , possibly its avaliable on video in the USA .
Even if the cost of this goes up in the future , you could still do it comfortably on the convential trains , 2nd class was adequate , i would say 1st class would be quite nice .

I travelled from Singapore to Bangkok (and beyond to Chang Mai in northern Thailand) aboard regular service trains in 2002. There isn't one through service, which was fine as I had intended to break my journey up anyway and spread it over a few weeks. It was a great trip, and the fares were very low indeed. I used a combination of 1st and 2nd class during the trip, and whilst I'd have to look back to see if I had a record of the fares paid, from memory we're only talking between 100-150 dollars per person.

Thanks for the info , and welcome to the Worldwide forum .
I think its necessary to change at Butterworth , in Northern Malaysia .
This is the port for the ferry to Penang , which is well worth a day visit at the least .
i would probably feel more comfortable in the ordinary train , rather than the luxury train . I remember 2nd class as been comfortable , so first class would be more than adequate for most people i would imagine .
The Luxury train would be one of those once in a lifetime experiences though .

Curiosity got the better of me - I just couldn't resist checking this out! Just been to the websites of both the Malaysian and Thai railways to look at fares. To get from Singapore to Bangkok you need to catch 3 seperate trains:

Singapore-Kuala Lumpur (daytime service) - 1st class seat= US$18
Kuala Lumpur-Butterworth (overnight) - 1st class sleeping berth = $22
Butterworth-Bangkok (overnight) - 2nd class berth (no 1st available) = $25

You can therefore do the whole route in best accommodation available on regular trains for just $65!! These are the accommodations I used and my girlfriend and I found them to be safe, clean and comfortable.

What a bargain ! .
The only thing that i would add is that the 2nd class berth on thai railways is a open section ( or at least it used to be ) . may not be to the liking of some , but i found it fun .

From what i remember of the malaysian trains , the 2nd time i went we had videos of fawlty towers showing , and the conductor shaking his head at the english torusit trying ot hang his hammock off the luggage rack .
Kuala lumpar railway station is something to see too . complete with minaret type towers , and very modern .