The Cambodia Railway Station is one of the historical buildings erected in the centre of Phnom Penh and this could be seen just by looking at the architecture. It was built in 1932 but was abandoned from 2005-2016. The present site now operates offering train services to Sihanoukville and Poipot, as well as the terminal for the airport shuttle train.
I was here when I first arrived on 13th August and when I was leaving on 16th August 2019. It was so far the calmest train station that I had even been to.
There was a cafe connected to the station. I wanted to try its coffee on promotion - with salted eggs but it was not available at that time unfortunately.
Similar to Vietnam coffee I had had in Ho Chi Minh, it was way to sweet for me.
You should use the shuttle train service to and from the airport which is very convenient - cheap and minus all the bad traffic jam of Phnom Penh. Read HERE about the shuttle train service which I took when I was there.
13th AUGUST 2019 ~ The initial plan was to take a Grab Car from the Phnom Penh International Airport to the city centre so as to save money. However, I arrived quite early and while I was wandering around the airport, I saw the sign which showed there was a shuttle train station nearby. I searched and found what I was looking for - and was on cloud nine.
The fare was USD2.50 which was about 10 000 Riel (equivalent to RM10) one way. To me, this should be quite reasonable. You might be charged much more if you take a taxi.
There was this terminal which was air-conditioned and comfortable for passengers to sit and wait for the train to come.
When the train finally arrived, I was amused to see it. It was much bigger and bulkier (and more traditional) than the one we have in Malaysia, and it was just ONE big coach. There was this portable stairs that would be needed so people could get into or out of the train. Without the portable stairs, people would have to literally jump down from the coach.
The service was not popular (maybe not yet) as I was the only passenger, having the whole coach to myself. The service was only launched in April this year so this should be considered as quite new.
Another interesting thing was the train tracks were actually on the streets so this made this vehicle more like a tram than a train. It moved at a slow pace but it was better than to get stuck in the bad traffic congestion of Phnom Penh. So when train was moving, traffic on the road would either have to slow down or stopped to give way. And the train would keep honking all the way to the destination, continuously to alert others on the road or nearby, guess you have to bear with it. The journey from the airport to Phnom Penh Train Station took about 30 minutes.
At first I was seated in a position in which the train was moving forward to the city and then it stopped at one point, and suddenly I was moving backwards. I thought it was going back to the airport but actually it had to change direction to get on the track to the city centre. Just imagine a "Y" shaped track for the shuttle route.
There were more people when I took the train on my way back to the airport. There were Japanese students and teachers so the journey was merrier.
Here is a timetable of the train schedule if you are looking for one - which I took from the terminal in August 2019. You better check online, just in case there are any changes.
The ride both ways were quite short but I tremendously enjoyed it as I as I caught my first glimpse of the lifestyle of the real people of Phnom Penh through the train windows. And here are two videos (uploaded on Youtube) which I managed to record when I was on board.
