Introduction
The first railway on the Malay Peninsula was a mini-rail line built in Singapore in 1869. With a length of just three miles it ran from the harbour at Tanjong Pagar to Telok Ayer Street and was primarily used for the transport of goods. There were ambitious plans to expand the line north but apparently they were not taken up.
However, it was in the State of Perak at the beginning of the 1880s where the birth of Malaysia’s railways really began. This was primarily due to the rapid expansion of the tin-mining industry in the Larut region, where it was becoming clear that the transportation methods, using horse or buffalo wagons or barges to transfer the tin to the coast for export and bringing in the necessary supplies to sustain the industry, were proving wholly inadequate and holding back its expansion.
Planning and financing of the railway
Therefore, the Government looked into the feasibility of building a railway line from the centre of the tin mining area at Taiping to Port Weld, named after former Governor Frederick Weld (now called Kuala Sepetang), a port on the Larut river which opened into the Strait of Malacca. The purpose was not simply to make money but according to one commentator:
“The object of the Government was not to make a large profit but to facilitate inter-communication and to cheapen the cost of transport to the miners, merchants and planters of the State.”
The main problem which faced the Government was lack of funds as the dividend from the tin mining was small at the time although income, which was derived from the tax on its export, was growing each year. Other challenges included a lack of skilled engineers and workers due to the absence of any previous railway construction, as well as the swampy terrain in some parts.
Nevertheless, this was a time of optimism in Perak with social stability having been recently restored after the Perak War allowing the tin mining industry to reopen with many workers moving to the area, and the Government believed that the line would soon pay for itself and would return a healthy profit on its investment.
Construction of the railway
Work began on the new railway in January, 1883 headed by Mr. F. St. G. Caulfield, State Engineer of Perak. Due to the absence of experienced engineers two divisions of pioneers lent by the Government of Ceylon were employed on the construction. The capital raised by the Government in the form of bonds amounted to $408,000 with interest payable at 9%.
As it was a pioneer project there were no local rules and regulations set down on railway management, land acquisition by the Government, compensation and so on, so the Indian Railway Acts and the Ceylon Railway Ordinances were used.
According to Frank Swettenham writing in his book British Malaya, the work on the first railways was carried out to a very high standard. No gradients were tolerated which were greater than 1 in 300, and no curves more severe than a fifteen chain radius were allowed. The narrow metre- gauge which was employed in all the British colonies was used, and the weight of the rails set at 46.25 lbs to the yard which was followed in all future rail construction.
Opening of the railway
The rail line was formally opened on 1st June, 1885 having taken two and half years to complete and ran for a total distance of eight miles between the newly constructed stations of Taiping and Port Weld. After it opened the project was praised for its timely completion and its cheap fares with one correspondent writing that the railway “was most satisfactory when the shortness of time is taken into consideration and the fact that the fares and freights are low.”
Four years later, on 30th September, 1890 an extension to the railway of three miles was completed to the large mines at Kamunting just north of Taiping at a cost of $80,000 bringing the total length of Malaysia’s first railway to over eleven miles.
At the opening ceremony it was reported in the Straits Times that William Treacher, Acting Resident of Perak, after congratulating Mr. Hanson, Railway Engineer and Traffic Manager on the successful construction, suggested that the Larut Line, as it was called, was just the beginning:
“Mr. Hanson would probably soon be carrying his rails onward past the mineral lodes of Blanda Mobok, on to those of Selama, then perhaps effecting a junction with a Kedah line, and going on successfully to a another port at the mouth of the Prai River.”
Despite a slow start due to shortage of rolling stock the railway soon paid for itself achieving in 1889 four years after opening, a profit at the rate of $1.23 per mile, although earning revenues from fares was not considered a priority for the Government. According to Government records the main goods transported were: tin ore, tin slabs, firewood, timber, kerosene, rice, poultry, pigs and opium.
However, if Government income from fares was low, in its main aim of facilitating trade and the development of tin mining it was very successful. Revenues from tin mining in the form of export duties and mining licence fees were the main source of income for the Perak State Government so assisting its growth through the use of the railway obviously had an enormous knock on benefit. The rail line help to cement Perak’s status as the wealthiest state on the Peninsula which it achieved in the early 1880s under Sir Hugh Low’s successful Residency.
Building of a second railway in Selangor
After the opening of the first railway in 1885, a year later a second line had been completed in Selangor which was initiated by Frank Swettenham, British Resident. This was a more ambitious undertaking covering a distance of eighteen miles across difficult terrain from the tin mining centre of Kuala Lumpur to the Klang coast which was extended by three further miles to Port Klang by 1890.
Financed by a loan of $300,000 the construction was led by Mr. Spence Moss, Government Engineer for Railways and proved even more successful than the Larut line in Perak, according to historian H. A. Cartwright achieving a profit of 25% on the capital expended.
This success was despite the actions of Central Government who shocked Selangor Railways and the State Government in calling for immediate repayment of the loan finance before the line had been completed because it was in urgent need of funds. Fortunately, due to the rapid economic expansion taking place in Selangor it was able to return the loan and complete the railway using its own State revenues.
Centralisation after formation of the Federated Malay States
By 1896 four lines had been built, and to centralise administration the rail network the Federated Malay States Railways body was established. The other two lines being the Seremban to Port Dickson line completed in 1891, and the Teluk Anson to Tapah Road line opened in 1893. Finally, in 1901 under its new manager General Manager, Charles Edwin Spooner, the four lines were amalgamated thus forming the nucleus of today’s railway network.
Future of Malaysia’s first railway
Malaysia’s first railway from Taiping to Port Weld continued in good service for a century until it was finally closed down in the 1980s. The station at Port Weld has been demolished leaving only the ticket office which now operates a cafe with the original Port Weld station sign having been preserved and displayed outside. Talk of reopening the line has been discussed in the Perak Legislative Assembly to promote tourism but no decision has been made to resurrect it.
Malaysia 1786 - 1957 
