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Kuala Lumpur: rail transit

Kuala Lumpur has several different modes of public rail transport, covering a substantial portion of the city’s sprawl across the Klang Valley. But how do they stack up for disabled travellers?

Let’s get this one out of the way first:

Monorail

You can forget the monorail if you’re confined to a wheelchair or find stairs difficult. The stations are all a considerable height above street level, and none of the stations have lifts. Some of the stations do at least have escalators – or bridges from nearby shopping malls – so that you may be able to get as far as the station concourse level. However, even if you manage to get up that far, the stations themselves are designed awkwardly. Switching from one platform to the other usually involves having to go down steps and through an underpass. And getting up to the platform invariably involves climbing steps. There are sometimes escalators up to station level, but none taking you from station to platform.

Visually impaired passengers may have it a little easier – the trains do at least give recorded announcements of the next station, and there are barriers along the platform edge. The trains stop so that the doors are aligned with gaps in the platform barrier.

Ampang Line

We went on a short journey from the gloriously named Titiwangsa station to Masjid Jamek. At Titiwangsa it appeared they were building a lift at platform level. Fat lot of good if you’re travelling to one of the many stations which don’t have a lift. Still, they have to start somewhere.

Kelana Jaya Line

This line appears to be substantially better equipped for passengers with disabilities than the other two. The carriages – particularly the more modern ones – have priority areas for wheelchairs, including handrails and safety belts. There are lifts and accessible toilets at several stations, including Masjid Jamek and Dang Wangi (although all the toilets at Dang Wangi, including the non-disabled ones, were undergoing maintenance when we visited). And the underground stations have barriers with sliding doors to prevent people from falling onto the lines.

Integration

Integration between the three services is variable. The KJ and Ampang lines do have stations in common. Getting from those two lines to the monorail, on the other hand, can involve quite a trek, especially at KL Sentral where you have to leave the railway station altogether.

Conclusion

A patchy performance. Some of the facilities are very good, especially compared with most other cities in South East Asia; some need modernisation (though efforts in that direction appear to be under way); and some are simply impracticable.