At dawn in Alor Setar, the capital of north-west Kedah state, bleary-eyed workers jostle for space in a packed carriage bound for Penang’s factories.

It might look and feel like a scene of a busy urban metro in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta or London. But this is rush hour in one of the most rural states in Malaysia. And workers like technician Nuhairi Ismail are southbound, heading to Penang’s industrial parks some 100km away on this intercity line.

It is 6.40am on a Monday morning in August and there is limited seating in the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) train, especially because some coaches are standing-room only.

But Mr Nuhairi, 47, who stays at a rented room near his workplace during weekdays, does not mind the crush. In fact, taking the train is an improvement from how he used to commute in 2022.

Previously, he would take a three-hour-long bus ride, which was often delayed due to traffic jams. The shorter, more reliable rail journey allows him to return home to Kuala Kedah, near the Alor Setar station, on Fridays to spend weekends with his family, before repeating the journey on Monday mornings.

Likewise, many Malaysians have benefited from the 2015 launch of the Komuter Utara (Northern Shuttle) service that serves the more rural northern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak.

KTM, which is Malaysia’s national rail operator, provides both intercity and local train services across Peninsular Malaysia. The Komuter Utara is just one of the various rail arteries operated by KTM.

In fact, infrastructure and public connectivity are set to improve under the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026-2030), which was announced in July.

Developments – such as the upcoming East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), JB-Singapore Ra...