Yashas Travelogue #13 - How To Use Public Transport In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - My Experience

Roaming around Kuala Lumpur I thought I will try each and every mode of transport that this beautiful city has to offer. I went round the city with all the means of transport and I have tried to narrate you the experience with this article.

Malaysia over the years has transformed into a business hub. Connecting various nations of Asia and Australia, it is one of the most famous destinations for foreign ex pats. The serene beauty of Malaysia attracts tourist from all over the world. Ever increasing tourism growth is maintained by well connected public transport system of Malaysia. Here is a article on local transport of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Malaysian airports – KLIA and KLIA2

Malaysia has the finest airports for both budget carriers and luxury carriers. KLIA and KLIA2 serve travelers from across the world. KLIA is mainly dedicated to high end luxury air carriers like Malaysian airlines, Singapore Airlines etc. KLIA2 serves as the home ground for the world renowned budget carriers which is ruled by AirAsia.

With few policies of Malaysian government made flexible, more tourists are flying into Malaysia, with these budget carriers providing the right support for aspiring travelers.

Airport Transfer – Kuala Lumpur

I reached Kuala Lumpur early morning and as per my schedule I was supposed to travel to Singapore the same night. Having done my homework I decided to take a bus from the airport to KL Sentral and take it on from there. Without wasting much time I headed straight to the bus stand to board the bus.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) is located in the Selangor region. 57Kms away from the KL Sentral the airports is pretty far from the main city. Without prior knowledge on the modes of transportation one may end up spending a lot on transit from airport. The cost of airport transit depends on two main criteria

• Time Constraint: For people with time constraints the following mode of transport is the best

KLIA Ekspres : A non stop train running from the KLIA2 airport takes just 33 mins with one stop at KLIA
KLIA Transit : A express train which runs from KLIA2 airport has 5 stops including the one at KLIA airport. It takes 39 minutes to reach KL Sentral.

The above mentioned modes of transport gives you that much required time advantage and is mostly suited for business class travel. With a price tag of 35RM this does not come cheap for budget travelers or tourists. Both KLIA Ekspres and KLIA transit has on board 4G Wifi free and the trains here are well maintained.

One other option which can be considered to save time would be to hire a taxi. Taxi fares are pretty steep and I would not recommend personally. I heard that there is another extra luxury VIP service transit to the airport now in place. Do explore to know about it if you fall in luxury class of travelers. I don’t so I wont talk much about it.

- Budget Constraint:

For people who have an hour to spare and little money to spend on airport transit can make use of bus facility. There are more than 5 bus vendors who offer the transit at just 10RM per person. Buses here are well maintained and have AC system in place. Once you exit out of the airport you can find your way to the bus station. You can either purchase the ticket from the ticketing counter or you can choose to buy it later inside the bus itself. It takes a good 60minutes to 75 minutes for transit from the airport to KL Sentral.

Once you reach KL Sentral you can find many options to go across the happening city of KualaLumpur. KL Setral has a huge bus stand and this acts as the junction for all kinds of transports.

• KTM Kommuter – Public transport in Kuala Lumpur :

I reached KL Sentral and from there walked my way to the KTM Kommuter station. This was my best option available to get to Batu Caves which was my first destination.

KTM Kommuter is our version of metro trains which offer transit facilities across the length of Kuala Lumpur. This to me is the cheapest way to go across the city if your destination falls in the route covered by KTM Kommuter. To me this is the best mode of travel to Batu Caves from KL Sentral.

MyRapid Buses – Public Transport in Kuala Lumpur:

Once I got down from Batu caves I was flocked by taxi drivers with all kind of wrong information on commute from Batu Caves. I always knew I can take take KTM Kommuter back to KL Sentral and then travel from there to other detinations. However I wanted to try local bus transport too.

For travel within the heart of city which cannot be accessed by trains the MyRapid public buses comes to the rescue. Well maintained with AC in place have a automated ticketing system at the driver’s end. It can be a nice way to explore the city within its heart. Price tag is suited for all class of travelers and the network is extensive to take you from any place to your destination.

One set back for this mode of transport would be the heavily crowded streets of Kuala Lumpur. One may not be able to guarantee a specific time duration of travel and if you are stuck in the traffic it may take hours to come out of it. If its a peak hour travel or travel to some important work which demands punctuality I suggest you to drop the idea of bus.

Monorail – Public Transport in Kuala Lumpur:

Mono rail can be a boon for travel across the Bukit region to visit Petronas or KL Tower or Bukit Bintang.

I used monorail for my travel across the busiest region of Kuala Lumpur. This is again free of traffic hassles and saves time for commuters. Pricing of tickets is pretty high as compared to the other modes of transportation. Self service ticketing counters is installed at every station which avoids that last minute rush for the tickets. The frequency of the monorails is also high and this is an added advantage.

Kuala Lumpur Metro train(LRT) – Public transport in Kuala Lumpur:

Kuala Lumpur metro was used for my last leg of travel to the KL Sentral on my way back to Airport. The huge KLCC mall has the metro station at the basement and this is the best way to reach KL Sentral after visit to the Twin towers.

Metro trains of Kuala Lumpur has the widest connectivity and offers commuters with the best ticketing price. Just like any other metro service this attracts huge number of commuters. Well maintained and frequent this is the also one of the best ways to find you way across the city. The usage of the train again depends on your intended places to visit.

Apart from all this the skywalks and escalators also makes your commute a lot smooth. One draw back of Kuala Lumpur public transport is lack of integration of all means of transport. We end up walking a lot than what is usually expected. This hardly matters and doea not have a significant impact. I still feel Kuala Lumpur has one of the best public transport system.

Overall I can conclude saying that the best way to plan your travel is make it go in one loop without repeating the same route twice. Have a grip over the local map and plan your travel with the intended destinations to fall in place with the least possible distance between them. Hope this article was helpful at-least a bit to plan your travel across Kuala Lumpur.

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This was my experience of getting around KL during my backpacking travel to Malaysia.

P.S: All the images are of my own and you may aso find this article on my blog

How to use public transport in Kuala Lumpur travel blog

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