How to travel from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh by train

After a relaxing few days or weeks on the Cambodian islands of Koh Rong or Koh Rong Sanloem, reality hits and it’s time to return to civilisation. The nearest town to the islands, Sihanoukville, is a complete contrast to an island paradise; most visitors aim to escape its casinos, tower blocks, and overdevelopment as soon as possible.

Luckily, Sihanoukville is served by one of the country’s few railway lines, so the capital city of Phnom Penh is easily within range via a comfortable and breezy train journey.

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Route map and details

After slowly departing Sihanoukville’s compact station, the train travels east along the coastline, passing through the tourist towns of Kampot and Kep. From there, it turns north towards Phnom Penh, arriving 270km and 6.5 hours from Sihanoukville.

Timetables

Only one train per day runs on the line from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, departing in the mid-afternoon.

It’s usually possible to take a ferry from the islands in the morning and easily catch the train to Phnom Penh. As we’ve mentioned above, there’s nothing in Sihanoukville worth staying any longer for.

How to buy tickets

The easiest way to buy train tickets in Cambodia is online rather than going to the station. You do pay a very small commission but the ease and convenience makes it worthwhile in our opinion.

Baolau is the best site to use for buying train tickets, they have access to the official Royal Railways booking engine, so you can easily see availability, timetables and prices.

Payment can be made using international credit card and PDF confirmation tickets are sent to your email address within a few minutes. This is the actual ticket you need to board the train, so there’s no need to exchange it at the station before travel. You may prefer to print the pdf out, but it’s also fine to show it on your mobile phone to the conductors and station staff.

Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh train tickets

How much does it cost?

There is only one type of ticket on the train from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, which is for a soft seat (unreserved seating). Most trains on the route aren’t air-conditioned but, with the windows open, it’s a very pleasant ride.

Modern air-conditioned carriages are slowly being introduced to the Cambodian Railway network, including on this route.