The Klang Valley Integrated Transit System is an

integrated transport network The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. The ...

that primarily serves the area of

Klang Valley Klang Valley () is an urban agglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and including their adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is the urban area of the much larger Ku ...

and Greater Kuala Lumpur. The system commenced operations in August 1995 with the introduction of

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service on the existing rail between Kuala Lumpur and Rawang. The system have since expanded and currently consists of 11 fully operating rail lines in a radial formation; two

lines, six

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

lines, one bus rapid transit line and two

airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...

s to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's (KLIA) Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and one temporarily suspended airport rail link to the

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport also known as Subang SkyPark, — formerly Subang International Airport/Kuala Lumpur International Airport, often called Subang Airport — is an airport located in Subang, Selangor, Subang, Petaling District, Se ...

. The system encompasses of grade-separated railway with 197 operational stations.

History

Rail transit in Kuala Lumpur and

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

began in 1886 when a railway line from Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Kuda (just outside Klang) was opened. The line remains operational to this day as the Tanjung Malim-Port Klang Line. Klang_Valley_Rail_Transit_System_Timeline_-_2025

Klang_Valley_Rail_Transit_System_Timeline_-_2025

STAR LRT, a light metro system, was first conceived in the 1981 Transport Master Plan, when the Malaysian government proposed a network of

light rapid transit A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...

(LRT) lines connecting Kuala Lumpur city centre with the surrounding areas. An agreement was signed between the government and STAR in 1992. The first rail transit system to provide local rail services in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

and the surrounding

suburban areas was introduced on August 14, 1995, as the KTM Komuter. A year later in December 1996, STAR LRT entered into service, followed by the PUTRA LRT which opened in stages beginning September 1998. The initial plan was for STAR and PUTRA to build, own and manage the LRTs. However, both companies ran into financial difficulties and were heavily in debt by 2001, which led to the government taking over both LRTs via Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd, now known as Prasarana Malaysia Bhd. The LRT lines were subsequently renamed to LRT Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines, and LRT Kelana Jaya Line respectively. In April 2002, Express Rail Link, which began construction in May 1997, entered into service, with two lines that connect KL Sentral to the newly built

Kuala Lumpur International Airport Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the main international airport serving Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is located in the Sepang District of Selangor, approximately south of downtown Kuala Lumpur and serves the Greater Kuala L ...

(KLIA) (now KLIA Terminal 1). The lines were extended to KLIA's Terminal 2 (then known as klia2) in 2014. In 2003, the

KL Monorail The KL Monorail Line is the only operational monorail system in Malaysia. Operated as part of the Rapid KL system by Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it is one of the components of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. Th ...

opened to service. However, the operator and owner of the line KL Monorail System Sdn Bhd quickly ran into financial difficulties and the service was again taken over by Prasarana in 2007. In 2015, the BRT Sunway Line entered into service, serving the densely populated Sunway area. In 2016, the Sri Petaling Line was extended to

Putra Heights Putra Heights is a 1,796 acres residential township developed by Sime UEP Properties since 1999 in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located within the ''mukim'' of Petaling District. History Before 1974, Subang Jaya was part of Klang Di ...

with 11 new stations. The Kelana Jaya Line was similarly extended to Putra Heights with 17 new stations. The extension of both lines serve the Puchong Jaya and

Subang Jaya Subang Jaya is a city in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. It comprises the southern third district of Petaling. It consists of the neighbourhoods from SS12 to SS19, UEP Subang Jaya (USJ), Putra Heights, Batu Tiga as well as PJS7, PJ ...

areas. On 16 December 2016, Phase 1 of the

MRT Kajang Line The MRT Kajang Line, previously known as the MRT Sungai Buloh–Kajang Line, is a Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line servicing the Klang Valley, Malaysia. It is the second List of automated urban metro subway system ...

which spans 23 km from opened between

Sungai Buloh Sungai Buloh, or Sungei Buloh, is a town, a mukim (commune) and a Dewan Rakyat, parliamentary constituency in the northern part of Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. The name itself means ''bamboo river'' in the Malay language. It is located ...

to Semantan. On July 17, 2017. Phase Two of the line from Semantan to

Kajang Kajang is a city in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia, located southeast of Kuala Lumpur. Kajang, along with much of Hulu Langat District, is governed by the Kajang Municipal Council. Kajang town is located on the eastern banks of the L ...

began operations. The

MRT Putrajaya Line The MRT Putrajaya Line is the second Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and the third List of automated urban metro subway systems, fully automated and driverless rail system in the countr ...

was official launched on 16 June 2022 at 3pm. Phase 2 of the line was subsequently launched on March 16, 2023. The LRT Shah Alam Line which is still under construction is scheduled to open in August or September 2025.

Integration

Initially, different competing companies operated the various transit systems and had developed these rail and bus systems separately and at various times. As a result, many of these systems did not integrate well with the others, making transferring from system to system inconvenient for passengers. Aggravated by Kuala Lumpur's poor pedestrian network, moving from one rail system to another often required a lot of walking, stair-climbing, and escalator-use. Since 28 November 2011, the paid areas of shared stations along the

Rapid KL Rapid KL (stylized as ''rapidKL'') is a public transportation system owned by Prasarana Malaysia and operated by its subsidiaries Rapid Rail and Rapid Bus. The acronym stands for , which translates to Kuala Lumpur Integrated Rapid Transit Net ...

system for the , , and , as well as the from 1 March 2012, have been integrated physically under a common ticketing system, effectively making those stations interchange stations. This enables commuters to transfer between lines at the interchange stations without buying a new ticket each time, provided that they do not exit the paid area. This is currently possible at the , , , and stations. With the opening of the latest rapid transit lines on 17 July 2017 and 16 June 2022, the and respectively, the integrated system has been expanded to , -, , , , and stations, and to station with the launching of the . The KTM Komuter lines and Express Rail Link (ERL) lines implement their own ticketing systems and only allow integration between their respective rail lines.

Fares

The

Touch 'n Go Touch 'n Go is a contactless smart card system used for digital currency, electronic payments in Malaysia. The system was introduced in 1997 and is widely used for toll payments on Malaysian Expressway System, highways, public transportation, ...

stored value fare card is accepted as a mode of payment on the Rapid Bus system, LRT, MRT, BRT, and monorail lines, as well as the KTM Komuter and ERL lines, easing the hassle of buying separate tickets for travelling on different networks. However, the fare integration for the Rapid KL system does not include KTM Komuter and Express Rail Link. Rapid Rail, the operator of the LRT, MRT and monorail lines, and

Rapid Bus Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd is the largest bus operator in Malaysia operating mainly in urban areas of Klang Valley, Penang & Kuantan. As of February 2023, Rapid KL service brands unit of Rapid Bus, has operates 113 normal routes and also 69 MRT Fee ...

(which covers about 70% of the Klang Valley's bus network as well as the BRT Sunway Line), provide various daily and monthly passes for commuters. Since February 2024, KTM Kommuter services started accepting credit and debit card as payment method, including NFC based mobile payment services such as

Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. Supported on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, Apple Pay digitizes and can replace a credit or debi ...

, Google Pay and

Samsung Pay Samsung Pay (stylized as SΛMSUNG Pay) is a mobile payment and digital wallet service, operated by the South Korean company Samsung Electronics. It lets users make payments using compatible smartphones and other Samsung-produced devices, accesse ...

. Rapid KL services are slated to follow suit with the implementation of open payment system starting March 2024 and concluding by March 2025.

System network

File:KLRT Line 1 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 2 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 3 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 4 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 5 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 6 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 7 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 8 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 9 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 10 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 11 icon.svg File:KLRT Line 12 icon.svg File:KLRT Line B1 icon.svg The KTM Komuter, a

service, provide local rail services in

and the surrounding

suburban areas.

Light rapid transit A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...

(LRT) lines and

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

line were introduced later on to serve the urban Kuala Lumpur area and its satellite towns. (i.e. Ampang,

Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...

Puchong Puchong is a major town and a parliamentary constituency in the Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Bordering Kuala Lumpur, it is part of the Greater Kuala Lumpur area. It is bordered by Petaling Jaya in the north, Subang J ...

Gombak The Gombak District is an administrative district located in the eastern-central part of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The district was created on February 1, 1974, the same day when Kuala Lumpur was declared a Federal Territory. History Go ...

, etc.) The mass rapid transit (MRT) lines aims to connect the outskirts of the Klang Valley (i.e. Damansara,

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...

) with the city centre. Malaysia's first bus rapid transit (BRT) line was introduced to ease pedestrian traffic in Bandar Sunway, a thriving leisure and entertainment township in

. 3 airport rail links connect the city centre with the 2 major airports of the Klang Valley, two to the

's (KLIA) Terminals 1 and 2, and one to the

Proposed and future lines

The fourth LRT line, the is also under the construction phase. The construction of the third KVMRT line, the Circle Line is expected to commence in 2027.

Rolling stock

Notes

References

External links

Klang Valley Integrated Transit Map - Official

KUALA LUMPUR METRO MAP on INAT MAPS
{{Rapid transit in Asia Public transport in Malaysia