Tuesday 11 May 2010

Plan B to KLIA-LCCT from KL Sentral


---- The information in this post is no longer applicable but is retained for archive purpose only ----

When I taking a flight back to Penang recently from the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), I was faced with a small dilemma. It had been raining hard the whole afternoon and the roads around KL were jam-packed with vehicles. I was a little concerned that should I take the shuttle bus from KL Sentral to the LCCT, I could be caught in a traffic snarl and arrive late at the terminal again. There's this phobia that I cannot shake off.

So I had to go by Plan B instead. Plan B would mean that I take the KLIA Transit (the train connecting the KL Sentral with the KLIA Main Terminal Building but stopping at three stations along the way) to the Salak Tinggi station and thence from there, by a connecting shuttle bus ride to the LCCT.

It was easy and a complete breeze. In fact, I would thoroughly recommend this method to anyone planning to take the next ride from the KL Sentral to the LCCT. The cost of the journey? Only RM12.50 one way. It may be slightly more expensive than a direct shuttle bus ride but this journey completely bypasses any traffic jam in the city and by comparison, you reach the LCCT much quicker too.

Of course, the tickets are only available from the KLIA ticket booth at KL Sentral (and also at Bandar Tasek Selatan and Putrajaya) but you should always inform the counter staff that you want to get to the LCCT. This is because the ticket for the shuttle bus ride from Salak Tinggi to the LCCT is not sold separately.

After a train journey of about 25 minutes, I found the shuttle bus already waiting for its passengers outside the Salak Tinggi station. I was surprised that the condition of the bus was excellent and the driver was smartly dressed and very professional too. This was so unlike the other direct shuttle bus services from KL Sentral where the drivers simply did not stick to their schedule. Plus, I only had to wait for about seven minutes before the bus pulled away.

Anyway, from Salak Tinggi, the bus ride is only 20 minutes and more importantly, there is no jam on the road. So if you do this journey, you may reach the LCCT well within an hour.

1 comment:

JLTan said...

I used a shuttle bus last year, when making the reverse journey (ie. Penang to Kuala Lumpur) last year. It worked out okay, but if I had understood better where my friends were waiting for me at KL-Sentral, I might have chosen the transit train instead.

It turned out that I costed my friends more time, and my family more pain by choosing the cheaper option on that journey.