At the start of the 20th century, the British invested heavily in a rail system throughout the Malay Peninsula. As part of the infrastructure, the Malayan Railway Building was built in 1907 along Weld Quay, a parcel of reclaimed land along the waterfront. Oddly, the station did not service trains. Instead, it was a ticket office for passengers to board a ferry across the Penang Strait where they would catch a train at Perai on the mainland. Now called Wisma Kastam, the building is the headquarters for Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
