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MY LRT-KOMUTER TRIP |
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Since the day I moved house from Kota Damansara to Ampang, I
had been wondering what was it going to be liked if I were
to travel by LRT
(Light Rapid Transport) and
Komuter (commuter - passenger train) from Ampang to my office at Batu Tiga, Shah Alam and
vice versa. |
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I asked myself questions like, "Is it going to take a longer
time to travel?" "Is it going to cost more for the
tickets?" "Am I going to be healthier, since it will involve
walking a little bit?" All these questions were going
to be answered at the end of the day on Tuesday, 23rd December 08,
after I decided to go home by taking the train and LRT. |
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That day I left my office at exactly
5.00pm and started walking to the Batu-3 railway station. The
Federal Highway and railway tracks separated the
station from my office. So I had to cross two (2) pedestrian bridges
before I could reach the station. |
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The Pedestrian Bridge across
the Highway |
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The Pedestrian Bridge across
the railway tracks |
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The first bridge that I took was the one across the highway.
One had to be careful with the narrow steps. I had to hold on to
the railings as I walked up and down the staircase. After I walked
down from the first bridge towards the other one, I immediately felt
uneasy. This place between the two bridges was quite secluded.
Any call for help would be
"submerged" by the traffic noise from the highway. If anyone
is
to be robbed here, no one could see or hear it happening.
Therefore I would suggest that no one, especially the ladies, should walk here alone, especially
at night too. |
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The area between the 2 bridges,
which is not a safe place for pedestrians |
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At one time I had two students, who came
by taxi to my office to "interview" me about a project paper that
they had to do for their studies. Prior to that they asked me
for the best direction to my office. So I told them that my
office was opposite the Batu 3 station and they could walk
across the two bridges to reach it. I asked them why did both of
them take a taxi from the station instead of walking from the
station to my office? They said that they were advised that it
was too dangerous to walk that way. I think they were right to heed
the advice. |
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Because I was carrying my notebook, I had to repeatedly look at my left and right,
and then in front and behind when I walked at this area. I never felt safe
until I had walked down the staircase of the second bridge. |
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View of the Batu 3 railway station
from the Pedestrian Bridge |
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A goods train leaving the Batu
3 railway station |
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As soon as I reached the railway station, I paid RM2.30 at the
ticket counter for the trip to Bank Negara
station. I went to Platform 2 and waited there for about half an
hour before the train finally arrived. I was surprised that I
had to wait that long. I must have just missed the earlier train.
When I boarded the train, I observed that it
was almost empty. It's probably because of the school and Christmas
holidays at that time. |
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The Batu-3 Railway Station
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The train left Batu-3 station at about 5.45pm and reached Bank
Negara Station at about 6.30pm, about 45 minutes of travelling
time. |
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Bank Negara Railway Station |
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The Pedestrian Bridge across
Jalan Kucing - one had to be careful when walking here
because the tiles were quite slippery. |
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After I disembarked at Bank Negara Station, I walked towards
the LTR station across the Klang River. It took me about
five (5) minutes to reach the Bandaraya LRT Station. |
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View of the Jalan Kuching
from the Pedestrian Bridge. On the top left is the LRT |
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View of the Klang River from
the Pedestrian Bridge. On the left is Jalan Kucing and on
the right are the support structures for the LRT. |
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When I reached the Bandara LRT station (opposite
Sogo Shopping Complex), I purchased
a one-way ticket to Ampang. The ticket cost me RM2.80. |
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Passengers waiting to board the
LRT at the Bandaraya LRT Station |
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Inside the LRT |
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The LRT left Bandaraya Station at about 6.40 pm
and reached Ampang Station at 7.05 pm; a journey that took about 25 minutes. I disembarked from the
LRT and walked out of the station towards the Pedestrian Bridge across Jalan Bukit Belachan. |
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So it took me about two hours from my
office to reach
the Ampang station. But my journey had not ended there
yet. I haven't described my experience walking by the
side of the road from
the pedestrian bridge to my house at Taman Kosas. But before
that, let's compare the differences between this journey
and the journey by car. The journey by car from my office to my
house normally takes about an hour long. On top of
petrol, I have to pay toll from as low as RM2.60 to as
high as RM4.90 depending on which route I take. It took
2.5 hours for the train journey and RM5.10
for the tickets. Though it took a longer time (more than
twice), it's cheaper to travel by LRT/train and much
healthier because of the walking I had to do. Now let's
get back to my journey to Taman Kosas by using the road
side walk. |
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After I left the LRT station, I crossed the busy road
using the overhead Pedestrian Bridge. The photo of the
bridge below was taken from the bus stop. |
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View of the pedestrian bridge from the
bus stop. |
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What immediately struck me most as I walked by the side
of the road was the bad and dangerous conditions
of the side-walk. The following photos describe what
I mean:- |
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Uncovered part
of drain near the Bus Stop |
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Not much space
at the side walk for the pedestrians, due to
"maximum" utilisation of space by businesses
such as this one. |
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Uncovered drain
at another location |
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This drain is
not covered at all |
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The walkway is narrow and
also hindered by the signboard. The drain should be covered
so that the walkway can be widened and tiled. The signboard
should be relocated so as not to hinder the passage. |
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It's safer to walk here
but the signboards are hindering the path. The path and
drain should be covered with tiles for aestheticism. |
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Narrow and dangerous
path. The drain should be covered to widen the path and
make it safer to walk. |
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Somebody from JKR, Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya or
whichever Authority responsible, should come and take a
look at these side walks and do something about
improving them to make them more safe. I found many
foreigners staying at Taman Kosas, Ampang and always see them
walking, sometimes with their kids. I can understand
their predicament in trying to walk safely on these side
walks because I felt the same way too. We don't want
an accident to happen first at these side walks before
taking any action, do we?
After this Petronas station, I didn't have the
chance to walk further because my wife,
Salmiah came with the car to fetch me home. I didn't
hear the sms sent by her to say that she would fetch me
from the LRT station. |
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Another narrow and
dangerous path. The drain should be covered to widen the
path. |
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I'm sure you wish to know what I have decided regarding the mode of transport to and from
my office? Well, from that day onwards, I've decided to take
the lrt and komuter because it's cheaper and healthier. Imagine
having to endure the stress of traffic
jam? It's more relaxing in the train, where you can read a
book, or look out of the window, or admire the variety and
beauty of the passengers and when finaly everything else is
done, if you feel like it, you can just doze
off....
The
only disadvantage is that I have to use more time to travel,
but then again I don't have anything urgent to chase for time; at my age, I
can have all the time in the world.... |
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