Angkasapuri

Angkasapuri KTM - cut off by roads, rivers and restricted land

There are some seriously unloved KTM stations in Malaysia, but Angkasapuri must be near the top of the list - terrible car-brained planning that prioritises a highway and cuts off access to the station from nearly all directions, with a river to the east with no car-free crossing.

To top it off, the one place it does lead to (the Ministry of Communications and RTM complex) is not for public access and does not allow connections through it, so for any destinations on the other side, people will need to take a long detour around.  Some may say that the station was specifically opened for the complex - if that is the case it's just another terrible planning decision.  Public transport stations need to have maximum connectivity to the surrounding area, and not be exclusive to a condo or government department.

Looking at the areas around the station, there is housing at the top of Old Klang Road with temples and some shop lots (restaurants/ commercial).  Just to the south of this are several big tower blocks (Tria, Gemilang Indah and Vivo).  Staying within a 750m radius of the station (10 mins walk) we also see some large residential towers and commercial buildings on the opposite side of Old Klang Road (e.g. Avara).  On the west side there is Taman Bukit Angkasa - again, lots of housing.

 

Angkasapuri KTM station (blue marker).  From left to right, running north-south: New Pantai Expressway, KTM port Klang line, Klang River, and Old Klang Road.  

So there is no shortage of housing and urban activity in close proximity to the station (and there is surely more on the way).  As is so often the case in Malaysia, the way the area has been planned and covered with roads makes it difficult and inconvenient to get to public transport without a car, increasing the need to use cars.  The vicious cycle continues.  This results in Angkasapuri station having the lowest ridership on the whole KTM Komuter network.

First photo: PPR Kampung Limau (foreground), River Park (background). Second photo: Tria condos.

Adjacent to the station there are two condos under construction - the huge River Park Bangsar South, and the smaller RIA Apartment.  These will have direct access to the KTM station when completed.  Predictably, during construction, the access to the station is partially blocked or not maintained, further discouraging public transport use.  Together with these developments,  new transport infrastructure is being built.  Can you guess what type? (More on that later.) 

 

Example of the condition of access routes to Angkasapuri KTM Station in October 2025

Rail connections

This KTM stop is on the route to Port Klang and Batu Caves.  For people going in either of those two directions the train obviously has the capability of being a very convenient mode of transport.  Seputeh Station is just 900m to the east, but on the Tanjung Malim/ Seremban line.  If people living near Seputeh Station wanted to head towards PJ, Klang or Batu Caves using the train they would need to ride it north to KL Sentral, change onto the Port Klang Line (or another metro line) and head out again.  This would add a lot of time given how slow and infrequent the train is - people are unlikely to find it feasible.  Much simpler and quicker if they could easily walk or cycle to Angkasapuri station and hop on their direct train (and vice versa to Seputeh Station).

  

The two lines on the Klang Valley KTM Komuter network. Perhaps one day Malaysian planning will allow trains to be routed to multiple destinations rather than the limited routes currently available.  

The potential capacity of these KTM Komuter lines is considerable, seen as part of KL's high frequency high volume urban metro system.  For this it needs the infrastructure, the trains, the stations, the information systems, and the maintenance. It needs people to work together to achieve this goal, which is still a long way off realisation.  

The fact is, urban rail is a much more efficient mode of transport than urban car. When a city gets as big as Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley efficiency becomes increasingly vital.  

 

 Trains vs cars - which moves more people?

The picture above could easily be Old Klang Road (OKR), although it's not from Malaysia.  OKR also has a railway roughly parallel to it, with three stations all within 600m of the road (Angkasapuri, Pantai Dalam, and Petaling).  Basically nobody is using them to get to OKR because the connections are just too poor.

Old Klang Road is famously congested with traffic and unpleasant for pedestrians and bicycle users.  It has become a 'stroad' as the authorities have sought to add as many lanes as physically possible, in the misguided notion that it will reduce traffic.  Obviously giving more space to cars and relegating people to broken pavements and steep overhead bridges just encourages more cars and more traffic.  A half-hearted attempt to implement bus lanes may have helped a little but it hasn't done much to encourage active travel - something Malaysians so desperately need (lower stress, healthier, more efficient etc etc).

Recent developments

There may be some green shoots appearing - for example the Klang River Festival project to create a riverside path along the banks of the Klang River adjacent to OKR.  This could provide a major boost to walking and cycling, as well as amenity value, if connected well with the destinations along the river corridor, and with access to public transport.  Some details of the proposals are available here, as well as a screenshot of the map below.  These proposals go a little way to addressing the area's wider need for walkability. Thinking about the bigger connectivity question, a strategic pedestrian crossing could make a big difference in the area.  The map below has been marked up with a possible crossing location to unlock the potential of Angkasapuri station. 

 

Map showing some proposed pathways along the Klang River.  Lime green markup showing possible location of pedestrian crossing.  (North direction towards the right.)

Solutions

Remember, to go 800m you do not need a car, a van or a bus.  Don't tell people to get in a van and problem solved.  This just encourages even more car-brained thinking and turns a blind eye to the accessibility issues that could be solved with better planning and design.

As usual it is a case of getting the basics right, which are so often overlooked by poor Malaysian planning and design. 

• Access routes and covered walkways             
• Bridges across railways and rivers
• Accessible stations (lifts, escalators, ramps)
• At-grade crossings of roads 
• Lighting and signage
• Co-ordinated public transport (e.g. buses and trains)
• Bicycle, scooter and motorbike parking 

The station currently doesn't even have ramps or lifts - accessibility is very poor.  To enter from the east side requires hiking over one pedestrian bridge, going through the barriers, then crossing over another pedestrian bridge to get back to the east side platform (ridiculous). 

 

Angkasapuri station sandwiched up against the New Pantai Expressway

To maximise the potential of our public transport systems they must be made convenient.  This means accessing them WITHOUT A CAR. That means having car-free access routes (something that seems to be anathema to Malaysian planners).  The map below shows more closely how this could be achieved.  Additionally, permissive pathways through Angkasapuri could be a quick and effective solution to boost connectivity to the west of the station. 

 

Zoomed in proposal for pedestrian crossing of the Klang River connecting into Angkasapuri station and beyond (new bridge in red colour).  (North direction upwards.)

Funding 

People may ask where would the money come from for these kinds of improvements.  The first thing to remember is that pedestrian bridges, paths and covered walkways are relatively cheap.  So it's not a lot of money.  

The KTM line itself is already there (and has been since before Malaysia was a country) and the Klang Valley Double Tracking project is underway (albeit painfully slowly - but that's another story).  As that project progresses, new funding should be made available to enhance the accessibility of KTM stations - lifts, fare gates on both sides of the station, information systems, signage, and general maintenance.  Also not that expensive compared to car infra.

Just look around and you will see so much car infrastructure in Malaysia - very very heavy and expensive.  Old Klang Road has been widened, barriers installed, car ramps tying in at various locations.  Again, this is expensive infra, costly to build and maintain.  So it's a question of priorities.  Car infra has been massively prioritised, with very high costs, over cheaper car-free infra.

This prioritisation is happening right now in 2025 at this location.  The new condo projects next to the KTM station will have car ramps binding them to surrounding highways.  In articles about the project, the developer boasts of 'investing' in connectivity: 

"A RM25 million infrastructure investment is currently underway to construct an exclusive road link to the Federal Highway and the New Pantai Expressway (NPE), scheduled to be completed in tandem with River Park" 

How much has been 'invested' in the pedestrian walkway?  And how much would a pedestrian bridge over the Klang River cost?  Less than RM25m, for sure.  These kinds of huge condo projects have significant impacts on the areas around them and there is very little being done by developers or local authorities (e.g. DBKL) to make sure sensible supporting infrastructure is implemented alongside them.

Condo plans show the new 'link bridge' that is being built (see columns under construction).  It's for cars.

 

Foundations being constructed alongside the Klang River apposite Vivo.  Could this be for a pedestrian bridge?  No.  It's 2025, it's Malaysia, and that means more car ramps for condos with dizzying amounts of parking.  

The pathways along the Klang River (aka extension of River of Life) may have their own funding source following the work that Klang River Festival and KongsiKL have been doing (can that channel some DBKL funding too?).  The new pedestrian bridge to the KTM station could be funded by a Railway Asset Core accessibility improvement fund, and/ or by the adjacent condos that are under development, along with DBKL.

 

It's 2025 and the best option local residents have of crossing the river is to walk on the highway bridge.

A livable future?

The good thing is it's not too late - installing a pedestrian bridge over the Klang is absolutely possible as is implementing a network of pedestrian/ cycling paths with some canopies.  In time, some of the road space can be easily converted into other uses - small linear parks, trees for shade, pathways, perhaps some space for warungs, cycle lanes, and at-grade pedestrian crossings.  The river corridor can be an active travel artery doubling up as a recreational space and refuge against the concrete jungle. 

In time, dedicated bus lanes should be extended along many major roads.  Even better, for Old Klang Road, build an at-grade tram line.  Reconfigure this choked stroad into something suitable for a productive, efficient artery in a livable city.  Give Old Klang Road a new lease of life and unlock the potential of KL's railways and rivers.

 

A glimpse at Old Klang Road's future?

 

Amway Bridge Petaling Jaya ... A Familiar Story

This is the REAL first/ last mile connectivity.

 

Modest little bridges like this, crossing longkangs and rivers -- they are beautiful.  They provide essential connectivity.  They will work hard for you over their lives, with just a little maintenance.

They will make your area more liveable, your people healthier, your streets quieter and less congested. 

This particular example is locally known as Amway Bridge, and it crosses the Penchala River in Petaling Jaya's Section 51A, nearby Asia Jaya LRT Station.  

There's nothing like a bridge to get you safely across the water.

But there's a problem.  As of April 2025, this bridge has gone.  There is no notice board, no sign for an alternative route.  It's just simply gone and there's no way to cross the river around here anymore.

The old access to the bridge fenced off and policed by security guards

Maybe it's only temporary and it will be put back in the future.  So in the meantime a temporary crossing should be provided.  This should be well within the skillset of the developer/ contractor.  They should also put up signs to explain the closure.

Instead of increasing accessibility for walking, it is being made more difficult, encouraging people to use their cars everywhere they go.

What used to be a 4 minute walk between businesses and workplaces on the east west and sides of the river is now a mind-boggling 24 minutes.

The benefit of pedestrian 'shortcuts' should not be underestimated.  If someone is given a direct, convenient walking route, they will be tempted to take it.  Maybe they can skip the jam? Or perhaps they don't have a car and a nice convenient pedestrian route just makes their trip to work so much better. 

Digging deeper

Looking into this particular case, it appears that there is a large high-rise development nearby (The Atera).  This development will straddle the Penchala River.  Plans even show a future footbridge within the development (but when? and who will be allowed to use it?). 

Looking at the local draft Special Area Plan (available here) it looks like there will even be a road crossing the river here in the future, to the south of the development.   A road that will cover over the Penchala River and route over the top of a storm drain.  

The bridge location (circled in yellow) and the new roads for cars (coloured red)

So let's just get this straight. 

1. Pedestrian connectivity is being taken away. 

2. During construction, there is no provision for pedestrians.

3. A large condo is being developed next to the river.

4. The river is being paved over for ... you guessed it ... MORE CARS.

It seems that this has raised concerns with local residents - see this 2018 newspaper article in The Star.  Residents correctly identify that if a road is opened up for cars along that alignment, it will attract more cars.  This is induced demand.  It's funny how people suddenly understand induced demand when it might affect their local area. 

Sadly, this is not just an isolated case.  For all the talk of walkability, sustainability and better urban planning, we are still getting car-centric infrastructure and consigning walking options to the tong sampah.

We can do better than this.  Give people trails in their tamans.  Make their kampungs more connected.  People have known the benefits of little bridges for thousands of years.  Let's continue the tradition.

Kampung Dato Harun KTM Station

Railways and condos with so much potential

This station on the KTM line (Port Klang - Tanjung Malim) is next to Kampung Medan and a busy industrial area of PJ.  It is also opposite a school.

The population residing near the station is large and growing (as would be expected in an urban area like PJ) and there are also many workers commuting daily to workplaces nearby the station. 

The KTM line has a theoretical maximum capacity in the range 30,000 - 50,000 passengers per hour and is routed along a corridor of dense population centres including important destinations like KL Sentral.  

There are existing high rise apartments in the area, some more have recently been built, and there are more coming too.  See below for a summary of apartments / condos within 1km.

Apartment name	Number of units / floors	Distance to nearest KTM station
Dwitara Residences	1756 / 43	980m
Residensi NewUrban	922 / 36	790m
Villaria Kondominium	304 / 19	730m
Verando Residence	1055 / 35	550m
Apartment Desa Mentari 3	6239 / 18	870m
Aparment Desa Mentari 2	~3000 / 18	390m
Taman Medan Cahaya (8 blocks)	~1000 / 17	280m
TOTAL UNITS	14,276++

Marked on a map:

As a reminder, it takes around 10-12 minutes to walk 1km and 3-5 minutes to cycle it, and most of these towers are much closer than 1km.

So, what is the population of this area now?  What will it be in a decade?  It will surely be a big number.

Yet, the ridership at this station is SO LOW.  Even at peak times it doesn't get that many users.

If it's so close to all these things, why is hardly anyone using it?  Leaving aside the car-centric mindset of many Malaysians, there are two key problems:  extremely poor service from the KTM, and horrific accessibility into and around the station. 

An Access Nightmare

The station has been trapped against a giant toll plaza (completed in 2004, toll abolished for KL-bound traffic in 2009) for the NPE highway.  Predictably there is no convenient pedestrian route from the other side of the highway, so it needs to be accessed via poor quality and poorly maintained pedestrian bridges with steep stairs.

From the north side, pass the workshops, lorries and go across the longkang

Up a small ramp towards the KL-bound platform.  Watch out for the dog sh!t.

 

To cross to the other side, use the narrow uneven path with a high wall looming over you.  No covered walkway here and no lighting either.

 

Hopefully you like steps

 

Across the footbridge (no cover on the KTM part) and to cross the highway, yes, there are more steps

Down the steep steps to Kampung Medan.  A few people are parking their bikes near the steps (no official parking)

This route is the only pedestrian access across the highway in this area so it does get daily users just wishing to cross the highway.  Is this really the best Petaling Jaya can offer them?

Is it any wonder that residents in this area want something to be built - anything - even PJD Link - if this is what they have to put up with now?

Putting the Kampung in Kg Dato Harun

 

Looking a little further out, the north side entrance to the station is a bizarre obstacle course of sprawling workshops, narrow lanes, dilapidated bridges, farm animals, and oil palm trees.  If you walk to the station along this route, you may encounter dead dogs, turkeys and goats.  Seriously.   

The route from the north - pass the lorry parking and the dead dog.

 

Now pass the sleepy dog and the workshops.  Keep going.

One of the residents of Kg Dato Harun striking a pose. 

North entrance to Kampung Dato Harun station.  Is it time to quit driving and go cold turkey? 

This is incredible neglectful to the area, which is full of factories with many workers who don't drive.  The streets in the area are actually quite reasonable - with trees for shade, wide verges for walking and relatively low speed traffic.

Tree-lined streets serving the workplaces in the area

  

The south side is not much better, with its steep stairs awkwardly set on the corner of a residential street next to the highway.

 

Simple Improvements

 

It is not difficult to imagine improving the routes into the station.   With a very small budget and some common sense the pathways could be greatly improved.

• On the north side, request the workshop businesses to keep a safe walking route clear at all times. 
• Widen the walking paths, fix uneven and broken tiles and handrails, provide canopies and lighting.
• Keep the farm animals out of the path.
• Fix the steps at the end points of the pathways.

• For the south side (Kg Medan), fix up the bridges, provide lighting and signposts.  Put some bicycle and scooter parking at the foot of the bridge. 

With a bit more budget, lifts and ramps could be included to make it accessible for OKU. 

Sustainable Solutions 

However all these half-measures are not really good enough and a transformation is called for. Imagine what you could do with a tiny fraction of the budget of PJD Link:

• Roll out micromobility hubs (Beam Scooters, bikes docks/ parking)
• Study and implement a network of good quality connecting paths over a wider area
• Provide a bus drop off point from the north side
  
• Upgrade station facilities with lifts
• Add separate bridges or a wide deck for cycle, scooter and pedestrian access direct to the station and also directly across the highway. Open up the access routes and reduce car-dependency. 
• Take back the useless toll plaza, which is mainly serving a tiny group of wealthy highway concessionaires.  Turn it into a tree-lined public park to shield the neighbourhood from the highway.  (NB. The way tolls are collected might be changing which will potentially free up space at toll plazas.)
• Provide connecting routes to Seri Setia station as an alternative.

 If the toll plaza was abolished, imagine the opportunities for improvements to the area

PJD Link Demands

While access to public transport is this poor, people will be tempted to reach for the idea of adding something new (especially highways) - something that they think might help with the situation they currently have to put up with.

In this case the PJD Link is not in the same direction as the KTM line, but opening up more connectivity across the divisive NPE highway will help give people more options. The current situation is an example of how poor connectivity and accessibility begets more highways in a vicious, unstoppable cycle.

The Density Question

This case study shows that density is not a solution in itself.  Being high density doesn't somehow automatically save developments and make them good.  Density done badly is still bad.  High density needs to be paired with good planning and transport accessibility.  Imagine if Hong Kong or Tokyo were just giant condos on top of giant parking towers surrounded by mega highways.  It would be a disaster. 

Let's bring some nuance to the planning discussion so that when we do high-density we do it well. 

A Little Bit of History

For those interested in the history of the line and area, see below this rail map showing the old names of the stations. 

The station was previously known as 'MAHA' - there was apparently an expo ground here, for the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show (forerunner to MAEPS).

Also there is some recent history with the toll plaza at PJS2 - there were actually protests by disgruntled residents.  Sadly, they weren't protesting that the toll plaza was blocking their access to the KTM station.  They were protesting that they had to pay the toll.  On the grounds that there was no alternative to get to KL...  The toll was duly abolished in 2009.  

 

 

The First & Last Mile

Why build metro lines?

Spending a lot of money on extensive metro systems is generally something capital cities do with good intentions.  Intentions to provide a better city for their residents, a way for them to move around freely and efficiently.  The first and most fundamental test of these metro systems is their ridership.  The intention is to to build up ridership which shows people are either using them instead of some other form of transport (e.g. cars) or are making new journeys that the system has enabled for them.

When looking at the Klang Valley, it is sometimes unclear if the people behind the public transport systems actually intended to achieve high ridership.  Perhaps it was more about telling the world that Malaysia has a first-world metro, rather than actually getting people to use it?

This question arises because the first & last mile connectivity is so poor.  It really doesn't take a transport expert to know that for a metro line to maximise its usefulness, it has to be easy to get on and off.  In the same way, everyone can see that if the internet wasn't accessible (let's say it was only available in fish farms, nowhere else had internet) then not many people would use it.  The terrible state of the first/last mile in Malaysia is mainly because of poor station placement, disjointed planning approaches, car-centric infrastructure, lack of investment in buses, and severe disregard for walking and biking. 

Making the most of it

So with extensive metro lines in place in the Klang Valley, and more lines still to come, how can their effectiveness be maximised for Klang Valley residents?

There's a breakdown of the typical choices people have for first/ last mile in the figure below (yes, a lot of words and arrows in there...) 

Jalan kaki

In many capital cities (including Singapore), by far the dominant mode for first/last mile is walking.  This is the obvious, convenient choice - after all, all journeys start with walking in some way or another (or could be wheelchair).   However, this absolutely relies on the public transport stations being well-placed near to population centres and highly accessible to a decent network of walking routes.

In much of Malaysia, we find that the walking routes are not there.  In fact, they are often physically blocked (sometimes by a highway).  So the number one priority for MRT planners, local authorities and other stakeholders is to open up walking routes to the stations.  (It seems incredible that this was not understood by the planners of the metro systems and local authorities in the first place.)

Wheels

Let's face it, not all metro stations are within walking distance of all destinations and that level of coverage is unlikely to ever be achieved.   But we have wheels.  Many types of wheels, human powered, or electric.  The bicycle (and electric scooter) are game-changing devices that are light, compact, efficient, enjoyable, and convenient. And they hugely extend the range of anyone who uses them.   In Malaysia people might be comfortable walking 600 - 800m only.  With a bicycle they can quickly cover 5 or 10 times this (and improve their fitness and health at the same time).  Cities like Paris and London have seen massive rises in the use of this micromobility since the policies and infrastructure have been in effect.  A walk around Seoul will make it clear that a lot of people are using the bicycle as a quick and convenient way to get to the metro line.

Image of bicycles at a Seoul Subway station.  These are dockable bikes but if the docking station is full, you can just park nearby.

Again, for people to choose bicycles or scooters, the right policies and infrastructure need to be there. If all the cars disappeared, then walking and cycling would become easy.  However, planners need to work a bit harder if they want a city with lots of cars but also one that works for bicycles and scooters.  There are simple low-hanging fruits that still make a big difference, like good bicycle parking (some downtown stations in KL don't even have any bike parking), availability of Beam scooters etc.  But to really shift people over to micromobility, there needs to be a proper network of safe, direct routes to stations.  

Planners could start by rating all the roads around stations - small neighborhood roads with low speeds, mid-size roads that need segregated bike lanes, or urban highways and ramps that are no-go for micro-mobility.  Then work out how to turn this into something better - including adding some dedicated routes and shortcuts just for micromobility. 

Vehicular transport

Road-based vehicles obviously have their place in transport.  In urban areas, busses are generally effective because they can transport a large number of people in a relatively small space and for low cost.  In cities, where population density is high, there are usually lots of people wanting to go the same way - let's say from an office area to an MRT station.  So busses make sense.  Private vehicles, on the other hand, are extremely inefficient in urban areas.  They require huge amounts of space when moving, AND when not in use (which is over 90% of the time). On top of this, for every person, they move around large metal components, seats, tanks of fuel or batteries, and need to be powered by high-energy sources.  Common sense therefore indicates that private vehicles are not a good first/last mile option for cities with large populations.  The parking issue also has a compounding effect, whereby the space needed for parking around stations blocks alternative uses and makes pedestrian access more difficult.  Most big capital cities have policies with very low targets for the share of first/last mile connectivity provided by private cars or taxi/Grab.

There is a 'third' option, perhaps somewhere between a bus and a Grab.  This is known as Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) and tends to be in the form of vans, as has been rolled out in PJ and other areas.  This is low-cost to the user and can be more direct than a bus.  However, it doesn't move large numbers of people and is still subject to the traffic jams, breakdowns and general delays we see on the road network.  It has its place, but it's definitely not the answer to the first/last mile.  It might even be more of a distraction or an excuse to avoid providing the real solutions - walking, micromobility, and the good old-fashioned bus.  

Rather than subsidizing DRT, perhaps it would be worth spending more on regular busses and associated infra, like bus lanes and bus stops.  Bus routeing needs to be studied too. People prefer trips with fewer changes.  For example just using one bus to get home, rather than a bus and then an MRT or MRT+LRT.  So routing busses a bit further and to more destinations will also help.  As an example, say you're in KL and you want to take a long distance train or airport train from KLSentral.  There is no metro station nearby you, but there is a feeder bus.  So you need to take the feeder bus, then wait, then take a metro line a few stops to KLSentral.  Instead of this, just route more busses direct to hub stations like KLSentral.   

Once busses reach a sufficient level of service (especially frequency) there will be a step-change in their use.  Yes, it will need a big push to reach that level of service, but it will really help drive modal shift onto busses (which ... will be good for car drivers too).