Painless travel the "KLIA Transit to LCCT" way

---- The information in this post is no longer applicable but is retained for archive purpose only ----

Earlier this month, I asked my wife to come down to Kuala Lumpur to join me at the Cititel Midvalley where I was staying for the Malaysia Chess Festival. But you'll have to fly down alone, I told her. No problem with that, actually, because she had flown several times by herself on official duties to attend her company's meetings. But all the while, she had gone either by Malaysia Airlines or Firefly, and travelled from the KLIA Main Terminal Building or the Subang Terminal Building by the KLIA Express train or taxi. This time, I told her, it will have to be different because I've just booked her a ticket on AirAsia and she'd be touching down at the KLIA Low Cost Terminal.

But no worries, I flashed her one of my reassuringly famous smiles, you don't have to fret about taking those dreaded shuttle buses all the way down to the KL Sentral. She had been hearing all those horror stories from me, you see, and they are not without basis.

Those shuttle buses. I've mentioned them before and I'll mention them again. Those shuttle buses plying the KLIA-LCCT to KL Sentral routes are the pits of the transportation service in Kuala Lumpur. They seldom keep to the proper schedule. From KL Sentral, I've even missed a flight from the low-cost terminal in January this year because the shuttle bus never left on time. There is an attitude problem in the staff of all shuttle bus companies that operated from KL Sentral. Unprofessional. The time for the bus to depart from the KL Sentral came and gone, but those drivers and ticket checkers on duty preferred to chit-chat and have a long smoke. Finally, we pulling out from the KL Sentral more than a half hour late. Then the driver drove like the wind.... But late is late. No matter how fast he drove, he couldn't make up for lost time. Besides which, as a public transport company, the driver had a greater responsibility to drive careful and ensure safety of the passengers. I doubt he cared.

Huh, that was to be the last time. I've even complained to AirAsia, urging them to end their association with the bus company but there was also no response from the airline. Maybe that should not be too surprising as I'm just a small voice in the crowd.

But air travel is safe enough. And never mind too, as long as there is an alternative to those damn shuttle buses, I shall still use the cheaper AirAsia to travel. Besides, as far as my experience goes, there are lesser flight delays now. So for now, flying AirAsia continues to be bearable for the time being.

Back to my wife. I suggested to her to give the still relatively new "KLIA Transit to LCCT" bus-cum-train service a try. It's painless, I assured her, and she'd enjoy it. And like a good girl, she agreed. So I gave her very explicit instructions. Maybe others will find the instructions useful too. Here they are:

a) On entering the arrival hall at the KLIA-LCCT terminal building, head for the first ticketing counter on the right. That's the one selling the "KLIA Transit to LCCT" bus-cum-train ticket package, and it costs only RM12.50 one-way to the KL Sentral. But in the event that there's no one manning the counter....

b) Head out of the arrival hall, turn left and walk down the row of buses until you reach the final bus bay. You should see the Cityliner shuttle bus with the "KLIA Transit to LCCT" logo emblazoned on its body but also, in the event that the bus is not there, just be patient and wait because it should be on its way from the train station.

I think there are only two buses plying this route to the Salak Tinggi train station and back. The bus drivers are quite courteous and the buses are rather spacious and clean. And the best thing is, the bus will leave right on the dot. It's quite an impression using the service, I told my wife. There are no traffic jams and the bus journey takes only 20 minutes.

c) The bus would stop right at the Salak Tinggi train station. And after about a 10-minute wait, the KLIA Transit train arrives to take passengers to the KL Sentral in 29 minutes flat. That's where the second half of travelling in comfort comes in. It is a perfectly nice, comfortable ride into the city, bypassing all the traffic snarls on the roads of Kuala Lumpur.

And that's how I met my wife ;-)