04/04/2025

FRIDAY | APR 4, 2025

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Malaysian Paper

/thesundaily /

Bourgeois explores the interior of a rare Class 22 diesel locomotive in northern Malaysia.

Bourgeois (left) on the Jungle Railway with the president of Malaysia’s first official railway fan club, Faizal.

Malaysia’s unique railway heritage Bourgeois on a diesel locomotive on the Jungle Railway.

R AIL enthusiast and social media star Francis Bourgeois appeared on BBC Earth’s The Travel Show: My Great Malaysian Railway Adventure last Sunday as he embarked on his first-ever journey through Malaysia to uncover the country’s fascinating railway heritage. Known for inspiring a new generation of train spotters through his passion for trains, Bourgeois explores how Malaysia has reinvented and restored the infrastructure left by the British and how train travel works in more demanding terrain. o English social media star embarks on locomotive adventure

Starting in Kuala Lumpur, Bourgeois helps engineers to prepare the Great Leisure Heritage Train for its relaunch in June, making it Malaysia’s only steam-powered service on the mainland. He then boards a revived luxury railway, Asia’s version of the Orient Express, to get an insider’s look at how fine dining is prepared in a kitchen smaller than a cupboard on the Eastern & Oriental Express. Venturing deep into the Taman Negara rainforest, Bourgeois discovers how Malaysia’s train revival has aided in conservation efforts to protect the critically endangered Malayan tiger while the Jungle Railway connects some of the most remote towns and villages in the country’s interior. This captivating rail adventure across Malaysia is available on Unifi TV channel 501, Astro channel 554 and BBC Player.

Bourgeois inside the cab of the abandoned Class 22 diesel locomotive.

Spotting the Class 29 locomotive with train enthusiasts at Rawang Station.

Bourgeois spotting the monorail in KL for the first time.

Bourgeois boards the cab of a diesel locomotive on the Jungle Railway.

The temple on Penang Island houses a huge statue that is dedicated to compassion.

Bourgeois peeks out of the rare Class 22.