Kuala Lumpur Monorail - a Photo
Essay
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Here we are at KL Sentral Station, the new rail hub
of the City of Kuala Lumpur. Here you can board several conventional
and light rail lines that traverse the city and run to suburbs
as well. You can even check your luggage in for major airline
flights and ride the new KLIA Express train to the international
airport. When the KL Monorail was built, politics unfortunately
came into play and the monorail company was not allowed to build
their station right next to KL Sentral.
The KL Sentral monorail station is located across a
parking lot from the rail station, and transfers require that
you walk for five minutes through a makeshift covered market located
in the parking lot. This will all change before too long, because
politics have improved greatly for the monorail, as a result of
their successful short history since opening. Since this photo was taken a new skyscraper has been built here, along with a better connecting walkway and station, allowing passengers to walk inside between the monorail and KL Sentral.
Squeezed between two older buildings, the KL Sentral Station
consists of a single beam of monorail track. Passengers board
from the left and disembark to the right.
These are the ticket machines and gates for entry to the station.
Note that they have cleverly been "themed" as luggage.
Also note that we are seeing our first advertising along the route.
KL Monorail has exclusive rights to advertise on the system, and
they have taken advantage of it considerably.
Malaysia is in the midst of a remarkable transformation. It
is in the process of leaving its Third World status behind and
becoming modern throughout the country. Contrasts are still seen
throughout the country, like this view of a rather "worn"
concrete apartment located only a few feet away from a modern
monorail coming into KL Sentral Station. The year-round humid,
stormy weather takes a toll on structures, and it shows if they
aren't maintained.
Just beyond KL Sentral station, the line splits over a switch
and is dual-laned throughout the system until the northern terminal.
The green scaffolding in the distance is covering a construction
project being built by Kuala Lumpur Monorail. It's called Monorail
City and will include a shopping center. The closest station to
it is the second along the line, Tun Sambanthan, which is located
along the Kelang River
This picture is taken from the platform of Tun Sambanthan
Station. Behind us is the monorail maintenance and storage depot,
as well as Monorail City. In this view we are looking north along
the Kelang River. Behind the train is Wisma Monorail, or roughly
translated, Monorail Headquarters. Administrative offices are
located here, as well as the operations and control center.
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