The Taj Mahal of Ipoh
Domes and arches in Indo-Saracenic style.
FBilula — CC BY-SA 4.0 · FBilula — CC BY-SA 4.0 · FBilula — CC BY-SA 4.0 · hams Nocete — CC BY-SA 2.0
One of the loveliest railway stations in Asia, called the Taj Mahal of Ipoh by locals: a long white building of small domes, arches and towers in the Indo-Saracenic style, designed by the architect Arthur Benison Hubback, who also designed Kuala Lumpur's old railway station and the Ubudiah Mosque in Kuala Kangsar, and opened in 1917. The station still works today as the main station of Perak state, served by fast ETS trains to Kuala Lumpur and the north and by commuter trains to Butterworth near Penang. Arriving in Ipoh by train from Kuala Lumpur is comfortable, and this handsome view greets you as you walk out. In front of the station is a green square, and across the road the old Town Hall and Post Office in white colonial style, with the Birch clock tower close by. Looking at and photographing the station is free at any time, and the facade is lit in the evening. The best photograph is from the front square in the morning, when the sun falls on the facade. Make it the start of a walk through the old town, about a kilometre away.
Domes and arches in Indo-Saracenic style.
By the designer of KL's old station.
Fast trains to Kuala Lumpur and the north.
Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, city centre
Ipoh Old Town and Concubine LaneIpoh's historic heart, a town built on tin wealth in the late nineteenth and ear5 minutes walk
Han Chin Pet Soo (Hakka Tin Mining Museum)Malaysia's first museum of the Hakka tin miners, in their old clubhouse at the e8 minutes walk
Panglima Kinta MosqueOne of Ipoh's oldest and loveliest mosques, built in 1898 by Dato' Panglima Kint12 minutes walkThe fast train from Kuala Lumpur is comfortable and quick, avoids the traffic, and delivers you to this handsome station right in the centre. Book ahead at holidays.