Taking the coach to KL? Here’s what you can expect at the new LaLaport transport hub

KUALA LUMPUR – A new coach terminal, serving mainly people travelling between Kuala Lumpur (KL) and Singapore or Johor Bahru, opened recently on the lower ground floor of LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre, a Japan-themed mall in downtown KL.

Launched on July 17, the LaLaport Transportation Hub can accommodate up to 200 bus trips daily and up to 10,000 passengers per day. About 150 of these trips are bound for Singapore.

The hub is connected to the RapidKL Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Monorail networks, allowing travellers easy access to destinations such as Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and KL Sentral, the city’s main transportation hub, where they can transfer to buses bound for Genting Highlands.

The opening of LaLaport hub comes after months of debate in Malaysia over where express buses from Singapore should terminate in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

“In the past, Singapore-bound buses stopped by the roadside at Berjaya Times Square, which was inconvenient and unsafe for passengers. They even had to drag their luggage across a busy road. It was not good for our country’s image,” Aaron Chuah, chief executive officer of ttklia.com, which operates the hub, told The Straits Times.

However, both One Utama and IOI City Mall are at least a 30-minute drive from downtown Kuala Lumpur, making LaLaport a more convenient departure point for many travellers.

Here are the facilities you can expect at LaLaport transport hub:

Not only will you not have to drop by the roadside, but you can also enjoy air-conditioned comfort inside the facility, in which operator ttklia.com has invested RM 5 million (S$1.58 million).

Once you alight, you can store your luggage in one of the 36 lockers located near the terminal, for RM20 to RM55 per day based on the locker size. You can open the locker multiple times within the rental period of 24 hours, at no additional cost.

The toilets at the hub are clean and brightly lit, with some cubicles equipped with Japanese-style toilets featuring built-in bidet nozzles and automated lids.

Monitors showing coach departure information, similar to those found at airports, are installed throughout the coach terminal, allowing travellers to check bus departure times easily.

Digital passenger information displays, similar to those at airports, are installed throughout Lalaport Transportation Hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

ST PHOTO: LU WEI HOONG

The hub is open 24 hours a day. While there are no shops open round the clock currently, there are plans for such shops in the future.

From ramen to facial

While you wait for your coach, you can get a bite at restaurants offering options from ramen and Japanese curry to Korean barbecue buffets. You can also get drinks and hot food from a CU convenience store.

You can also explore LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC), a mall co-owned by Japanese real estate giant Mitsui Fudosan, which operates 16 LaLaport malls across Japan.

BBCC features prominent Japanese brands, including edgy youth-culture apparel label Younger Song. It also has a floor dedicated to anime, comics and games that caters to Japanese pop culture lovers, offering merchandise from popular series such as Spy X Family.

Anime fans can shop for merchandise at LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre.

ST PHOTO: LU WEI HOONG

If you have time, you can consider visiting the cinema, sitting back on a massage chair or going to a facial treatment spa at the mall.

A Malaysian engineer, who asked to be known just by his surname Lee, gave the new hub the thumbs up. “It’s good. There’s a power socket for me to charge my laptop,” said the 30-year-old, who was working on his laptop in the air-conditioned waiting lounge while waiting to board a bus to Singapore.

“It can be a little noisy because it’s close to the bus departure point, but it’s still better than the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS),” he told ST. TBS is the main long-distance bus terminal in Bandar Tasik Selatan, a suburb about a 30-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur downtown.

Explore KL on the LRT, monorail

To explore KL, you can walk from the hub to take the LRT or monorail. Buy a token from a vending machine by tapping a credit or debit card, or pay with cash at the Hang Tuah LRT and monorail interchange.

The monorail can take you to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur via Bukit Bintang Station. From there, you can walk about 1km along an air-conditioned covered walkway to the Petronas Twin Towers at KLCC.

To go to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), you can take the monorail to KL Sentral, to change to the KLIA Ekspres train to the airport. The entire journey should take 28 minutes.

For a taste of fried Hokkien mee, beef noodle soup or halal hand-pulled Mee Tarik, you can take the LRT to head to the bustling Petaling Street via Plaza Rakyat Station.

Or you can take the LRT to Masjid Jamek Station, to see the newly restored Sultan Abdul Samad Building, a national heritage landmark located next to Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square).