[1] Construction of the then North Borneo Railway began in 1896 under the command of engineer Arthur Joseph West with his assistant Gounon Lulus, a member of the Murut people from Keningau.

[6] The high costs of operation of the lesser used routes and the competition from the many newly built roads made their situation increasingly untenable.

As part of the works undertaken during 2006 and 2007, about 52,530 and 76,600 concrete sleepers were introduced for Sector 2 and 1 of the Tanjung Aru-Tenom section, for better train operation.

The section Tanjung Aru-Beaufort reopened on 21 February 2011, and the trip now takes 2 hours and 15 minutes as the coaches can run at a speed of up to 80 kilometres/hour compared to 50 kilometres/hour previously.

There are a total of 15 stations between Sembulan and Tenom, namely: In 2015, a total of RM27.99 million has been allocated by the state government to improve and upgrade the state railway, the provisions include the acquisition of diesel multiple units (DMUs) train set from Japan[7] and a tamping machine for the areas from Beaufort to Tanjung Aru.

[9][10] The state railway have since collaborated with KTMB and the country Human Resource Ministry for staff training and new methods of operations including for the track maintenance.

[11] On 15 September 2017, around RM101 million allocation by the federal government through Transport Ministry has been approved for three projects to upgrade the railway lines from Halogilat in Beaufort to Tenom with three new DMUs.

[14] The minister had also urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the Railway Department (SRD) for their failure to modernise the state train systems with the new state government promised under their new Key Performance Index (KPI), the railway system and its infrastructure will be developed, including having quality trains with better comfort with the requests for funding from the federal government will be forwarded to connecting Melalap, Beaufort and expanding the rail network to Tuaran, Kudat, Pitas until Tawau in the eastern coast of Sabah.

[15] A train for tourism called North Borneo Railway was also established from Kota Kinabalu to Papar passing through Putatan, Kinarut and Kawang.

[16] On 17 September 2015, it was announced that the railway line in Sabah will be extended to cover the northern and east coast areas, mainly to major towns of Kudat, Sandakan and Tawau.

Freight trains are hauled by Hitachi or Kawasaki diesel locomotives, which were introduced in the early 1970s to replace earlier steam units.

Passenger services take 4 hours to complete the 134 kilometres journey from Tanjung Aru to Tenom, allowing for stops on the way.

Also, the line can be hazardous, with mudslides in rainy weather a real threat that can lead to the service being disrupted or suspended for brief periods.

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, a pair of Tamu trains operate in the early morning between Tenom and Rayoh for villagers to bring their produce to the town.