North Borneo Railway is the oldest running steam train in Sabah and Borneo. The nostalgic romance of an old steam train relives memories of by gone era. Passing through villages and coastal towns, paddy fields, rainforests and plantation of rubber and coffee, a ride on North Borneo Railway is truly a journey of rediscovery into the heart of Borneo. It provides nostalgia-loving tourists the opportunity to experience a half-day outing into a retro styled railway carriage pulled by a classic British-made Vulcan steam locomotive.
It had transported passengers along the lifeline of Sabah between Kota Kinabalu and Tenom in the hay days, now replaced by diesel powered trains. Refurbished to recreate the nostalgic romance of people travelling by steam train in the colonial days of the Chartered Company and the British Colonial office. Both the exterior and interior provide an environment that would have been typical of stepping onto a train in the 1900s.
Today, the North Borneo Railway carries 180 passengers and runs 36 miles between Tanjung Aru and Papar, an agricultural town known as the rice bowl of Sabah, every Wednesday and Saturday lasting 4 hours and a typical ‘tiffin’ colonial lunch will be served on the return trip.