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I had some stuff in downtown KL today and decided to brave the public transportation system into KL. Thank goodness I did as I heard there were more roadblocks today all around KL city over unwarranted fears of unrest over Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s arrest on Wednesday.

Of all the public transporation I have taken in KL, I find the service by the KL Monorail and RapidKL to be best as the rest are, unfortunately, never on time and far too infrequent. The KL Monorail serves mainly the KL city area and runs on approximately 8.6km of lines, serving 11 stations. It provides easy access to popular areas such as Bukit Bintang where the best shopping malls are, Chow Kit for some old world KL charm and Titiwangsa where the Eye of Malaysia is located. This makes it an excellent mode of transport for tourists who wish to explore the city.

When I purchased my tickets, I found it really odd that they didn’t have a two way ticket facility. So when I wanted a two way ticket, I was given 2 separate tickets which was rather inconvenient as I had to remember which ticket I used to get in through the turnstiles as that same ticket will have be used upon my exit. I found their signages quite bad as well and in some stations, it wasn’t very clear which platform you should be waiting on to ensure you catch the train going in the right direction.

The train can be terribly crowded during peak hours as well and it will be excellent if the frequency of the trains were increased during the rush hours. Staff are available at the stations during rush hour to control the traffic flow and it is good to see that queuing for the train has been reinforced. Passengers are also constantly reminded to wait for others to alight before rushing onboard and to watch their belongings on the train.

I found a ride on the monorail pleasant, if it is not too crowded. The distance between the stations weren’t too long and I was able to reach my destination in the heart of KL in 10 minutes. A similar journey by car would have taken me at least 20 minutes or more with the road blocks! If only all of KL’s public transport was this efficient!