Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a huge city; therefore, its public transportation is colorful, yet often a bit confusing. Hereby, we represent you with the various means of public transportations available in the city, with their pros and cons.
Transportation:
Trains: Kuala Lumpur is served by two train stations – the KL Sentral and the Old Railway Station.
- LRT: The mean of public transportation, which is closest to Metro in Kuala Lumpur, is the LRT.
- KL Monorail: With 11 stops, the Monorail goes through the downtown and stops at the most important destinations. Both tourists and locals favor it, and it gives a magnificent view to the city as well.
- KTM Commuter trains bring people out in the suburbs and different ticket is needed for them.
- ETS Express trains to Ipoh also stop in the Old Railway Station in the city centre, where domestic and city buses do depart.
- KLIA is the name of the Airport transfer train that goes between KL Sentral and KL international airport. KLIA also runs direct express trains. KLIA normal train is a good choice for you if you want to get to Putrajaya and Salak Tinggi.
Bus: Hereby we enlist the types of buses that run inside the city, as per their signals.
RapidKL bus – This bus has three different categories which you can only see by their respective signs:
- Bandar (B) mean the city centre shuttles,
- Utama (U) these buses go far from the city centre ending up in the outlying suburbs,
- Tempatan (T) these are the connecting buses which generally take passengers to train stations.
Price of bus ticket costs roughly around 2 MYR.
Tourist buses: Kuala Lumpur has a great Hop-on, Hop-off sightseeing bus line that goes all around the city. These buses run every 30 minutes. You can buy a 24 hr or a 48 hr ticket and can use it within the downtown as a public transportation. Do not use them during rush hours that are generally between 11 and 17.00H.
Free Buses: It may sound tricky but indeed Kuala Lumpur has two free bus lines: The GOKL City Bus and the Purple City Bus travels from Pasar Seni to Bukit Bintang shopping area. It is although hard to catch these buses and takes hours to wait them out.
The public transportation system of Kuala Lumpur is not too bad, but the connections are often failing. Be prepared to spend long time waiting at times, in case you would like to use connections. Public transportation is cheap. Travel passes or tourist tickets are still not used here, the only collective ticket available is the one called “Touch ‘n Go” which is valid for multiple travel and can be recharged. Inside the city, we advise you to use Monorail and LRT mixed up. As of now, you can buy one ticket valid for both LRT and Monorail. One single ticket for both costs around 1-3 MYR only.
Airport transfer: Kuala Lumpur Airport Taxi costs around 75 MYR, and after midnight, they can charge more. There is a taxi coupon buying possibility, which makes your trip more secure in terms of how much you pay.
Travelling from the airport by bus costs only 10 MYR while the train (KLIA) costs around 35 MYR / single trip.
Walking in Kuala Lumpur
When walking in Kuala Lumpur, be prepared that not every driver takes green lights seriously so pay attention when crossing any streets. Using KL train and Monorail is a great way to get around in the city. Trains go from KLIA Train Station and the bus station is together with the train station. Bus is usually cheaper but much slower than trains. Be aware that the pavements are made of such special cover that once they get wet, they get extremely slippery.
Travelling outside the city or country:
Trains are surprisingly cheap here; you can get an overnight train to Thailand cheaply that runs from KL Sentral Railway or from the neighboring Bus station.