Getting Around Kuala Lumpur

KL Sentral is KL’s main railway station (it has officially taken over the role of the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station) and is the largest train station in Southeast Asia. The hub from which all long-distance trains depart from, it is best known as the integration point of an urban rail-based network (comprising the KTM Komuter, KLIA Express, KLIA Transit, LRT and Monorail systems).

A convenient place to get around much of central KL, it is also called Stesen Sentral. The only downside to KL Sentral is that all the systems here are built separately and even when there is an interchange between the services, they are rarely connected: plus each system has a separate ticketing system, making it tiresome to switch between services.

Inside KL Sentral is the KL City Air Terminal (KL CAT): basically it is an extension of KLIA, with luggage check-in services for passengers flying MAS, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Royal Brunei Airlines.

Cars

KL has a vast network of roads and flyovers that carve up the city and make it a convenient place to drive. The road network system in KL is similar to China’s city road network system, with lots of ring roads: KL’s main ring roads include the Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road, Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 and Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).

You can find numerous car hire companies either at KLIA or in the city but you have to provide an international driving license to rent a vehicle: be warned though that local drivers do not always obey traffic laws.

Taxi

There are two types of taxis in Malaysia: local and long-distance. The former are usually red-and-white or yellow-and-blue and are metered taxis that can be hailed throughout the city. Some taxi drivers charge tourists extravagant fares so be sure to insist that they turn on the meter: local metered taxi fares are cheap.

Long distance cabs can be found at Puduraya bus station: they only operate when they receive a full complement of four passengers, so either wait for others to show up, get a group together or charter the whole taxi (the fare can get quite steep though).

Keep in mind though that some tourist sights are so close together that it is often quicker to walk than take public transportation or grab a cab.

Buses

KL’s array of bus services is quite efficient with a network of public express buses and several privately run services. RapidKL is the largest single bus network operator in the country and it currently runs 177 routes around the city. Recently the bus system was revamped and RapidKL divided its fleet of buses into four classes: express routes, city shuttles, trunk routes and local shuttles.

Within KL city centre there are five major bus hubs: KL Sentral, KLCC, Maluri, Titiwangsa and Pudu Sentral. These bus hubs are usually located near public transit stations such as Kelana Jaya Line transit stations. Pudu Sentral used to be KL's main bus station and after a complete make-over in 2011, it now servers north-bound buses.

Buses are usually much faster than trains: however some do arrive at awkward times in the middle of the night.