It’s lovely to be back in Georgetown after so many years. The place has changed, but it still has a relaxed vibe in the main, and some fantastic food! The three of us had a lazy morning following the past few days travelling and ended up having a late breakfast of the signature Penang dish Nasi Kandar at a well-known local back-street establishment, Line Clear. Besides the food it has the attraction of a characterful, ‘bling’ wearing and rapping chef who performs for people gangsta style, which means he features in many customers videos. Charlotte and Adi found him great fun!
A substantial plate of Nasi Kandar, with some very meaty chicken. The local feral cats enjoyed it too…
Afterwards I took them both on a tour of the area. We’d hoped to visit the ornately decorated Koo Kongsie, a wonderful Chinese Clanhouse at the East end of Lebuh Chulia but it seems it hasn’t yet reopened following the pandemic. Instead we popped down to Weld Quay before wandering through the banking and commercial district along Beach St which contains some imposing and impressive old buildings, many of which remain in very good condition still reflecting the colonial affluence and importance of the town. It was a lovely morning, partly because I got to explore a place I really enjoy but also because I had quality time with Charlotte and Adi. Having walked a fair distance we returned to Little India to enjoy cold drinks at a little juice bar we’ve discovered on Queen St.
Suitably refreshed we returned home. I wanted to spend several hours working whilst the other other two had plans of their own. I had a relaxed but worthwhile few hours editing the hundreds of pictures I have in the queue to add to my Zenfolio picture website. Now all I have to do is caption them first. Expect them to appear over the next few days.
By early evening we were all getting hungry and met up to eat. I suggested Indian vegetarian as a contrast to this morning and remembered a place I knew from the past, so we ended up in this establishment which serves a great selection of South Indian food. Adi decided he was ‘going for it’, which meant we feasted on a selection of Dosa’s, Puris and side dishes including sweet potatoes, carrots and spinach. The whole lot for the three of us cost RM30.50 (around £5.75).
Adi and Charlotte enjoying our veggie feast.
Now I’m having an early night, sorting out some more work and a picture request from a company in the UK before an early start tomorrow. We’re off to visit the famous Penang butterfly farm which seems to have changed out of all recognition since my last visit in 1998. We’re all really looking forward to it.
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It’s been quite a day! I woke up on the sleeper train around 06:00 this morning, just in time to enjoy a wonderful dawn from the comfort of my bed. Food was soon sorted by the arrival of some hawkers who’d joined the train at the last stop so I literally bought breakfast in bed, spicy friend chicken and sticky rice, washed down with fresh coffee from a different hawker, leaving me free to enjoy the world passing by my window at a sedate enough speed to allow me to enjoy it. This Southern part of the railway is a marked contrast to the ongoing modernisation and double-tracking of the Northern sections as it remains undisturbed. You still pass through gorgeous little stations bedecked in bougainvillea and other colourful pot plants. The smart wooden buildings are home to sharply dressed staff. One stands by with green flags as our train passes whilst another collects and swaps single-line tokens with the driver of our train. The big brass station bell each station boasts remains silent because we’re not stopping.
Whilst scoffing my chicken and sipping my coffee a series of colourful snapshots passed by my window. A group of middle-aged women doing calisthenics in a lineside park. Klongs (canals) and rice paddies alive with masses of wading birds such as Lapwings, Egrets and Herons. Some burst into flight when they’re spooked by the train which causes a mass flight. It’s wonderful to watch. This section of line still is ‘old railway’ which is lined with telegraph poles and a multitude of wires which provide a perfect perch for other, smaller birds. Some sections of wire have been colonised by masses of spiders, like some weird alien invasion. Occasionally, the wires act as their own web, trapping an unwary child’s kite. We lost these telegraph poles in the UK many years ago although they were once a common feature. The last section of line I remember them in any number was the line between Norwich and Ely, but these are gone too.
Further away from the line the countryside is divided between palm oil or rubber plantations and rice paddy fields, leavened by Coconut palms and Bananas, just to remind you (where you in any doubt) that you’re in the tropics. The view from the train’s not always picturesque, but it is an insight into Thai life – like the shanties along the lineside on the approach to Hat Yai where plastic and other detritus takes over their back yards. Plastic pollution’s a big issue in Thailand and I’m really not sure how it’s being dealt with.
At Hat Yai our train’s split. The locomotive that brought us from Bangkok is taken off and retires to the depot and the station pilot (an old, leaky ‘Shovelnose) takes over to remove the two Padang Besar bound coaches from the head of the train and shunt them into an adjacent platform where a 3rd class coach is waiting to be attached to the rear. Then the locomotive to take us forward arrives. In this case it was an old Alsthom-built Class 44. Our train took on new passengers too – around a ten railway police who were there to escort the train due to the recent terrorist bombing of the line between Hat Yai and Padang Besar boarded. Three sat opposite me and I got into conversation with one officer who had good English. He translated my words for his colleagues. They were all incredibly friendly and chatty, which was great.
Finally, we arrived at Padang Besar where I went through the border rigmarole I’d completed only a couple of weeks before – only this time in reverse. I’d talked Charlotte and Adi through what to expect, which was painless. I did get quizzed by Malaysian advance immigration but once I explained I was returning to Malaysia with my niece and her husband the latter two got waved through without demur.
Upstairs, the Malaysian ticket office was closed but there are now two ticket machines which accept credit cards (but NOT cash) so I bought our tickets onwards to Butterworth. The train arrived 40 minutes later which gave us enough time to buy a drink at the Warung upstairs. I was surprised to see our train was formed of one of the Chinese built 6-car SCS sets. Last time I’d used the line it was an older 3-car ‘Komuter’ set that had been recommissioned to operate the new local services. By the time we got to Butterworth I understood why they now use the SCS trains – it was packed – and loads were waiting to board it for the return trip.
It was at Butterworth I had my biggest surprise and biggest disappointment. The interchange between train and ferry had always been a pain sine the station was rebuilt as you were up and down several flights of stairs. Now there’s a brand-new and expanded ferry terminal and the adjacent bus station’s in the basement of a massive shopping complex. All good so far, until it came to the ferry…
The old Penang ferries are gone. They stopped in 2021. The joy of sitting on the top deck of a ferry with massive open sides, admiring the view of Penang or watching the mass of commercial shipping are history – as are the chances of getting photographs. Instead we were loaded into a cramped, claustrophobic and awkward catamaran that used to ply the Langkawi route. How are the mighty fallen! You don’t even go to the old terminal anymore which was right next to the bus station. Now you go the Swettenham Pier, further north. But, (allegedly) this is all better because it’s ‘faster’…
As there were three of us we split the fare on a taxi to get to Lebuh Chulia. If nothing else, it saves the wheels on your suitcases melting on the hot tarmac. It may not be as toasty as it was in Kanchanaburi, but 31 degrees is still warm!
I have to admit, I’ve had a fun afternoon introducing Charlotte and Adi to Georgetown and I’m chuffed that they’ve really taken to it. It’s always been one of my ‘happy places’. Having spent a few hours wandering I can say it’s changed but not enough to destroy its character.
I’ll type more tomorrow, but for now I’ll leave you with a picture of what has been lost – which is a crying shame. Here’s one of the old Penang ferries, seen from a sister ship on my last visit here on the 24th February 2017.
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This isn’t going to be a magnum opus. It’s 18:45 here in Thailand and i’m settled in on the overnight sleeper train from Padang Besar in Malaysia to Bangkok. There’s no wifi, these 1988 built sleeper cars only have a few shared plug sockets and my laptop couldn’t charge on the Malaysian train even though we had plugs as they weren’t working. That means this is being typed on my phone (so forgive any glaring typos).
I’ll blog about the trip at greater length when I have time. It’s certainly been an interesting trip. KTMs Electric Train Service (ETS) left KL at 09:50 this morning. The train was sold out and busy almost all the way to the border. It was only after Alor Setar, the penultimate stop before Padang Besar that the numbers thinned. The ETS sets are pretty good. Mine was one of the later 2018 batch from CRRC that were assembled in Malaysia. Apart from the plug socket problem I’d no grumbles and the staff were very good.
Bowling along on meter-gauge track at 140kph is a rare experience but the quality of the rebuilt railway means the ride quality’s really good. We even arrived on time at Padang Besar. I’d not got an onward ticket but I suspected I’d be able to buy one on the day without a problem. True enough the Thai ticket office sold me a lower berth on the 18:00 departure for 918 baht. They don’t take credit cards but I’d a large stash of cash from previous trips so I used some of that. It’s a good job I wasn’t trying to get Southwards to KL, the next door KTM ticket office had a notice saying all trains were fully booked until the 30th January!
All I had to do then was wait. Immigration doesn’t open until around 30 mins before the 18:00 leaves, so there’s a fair bit of hanging around to do and not a lot of amusements. You can’t get back on the platforms so you just hang around upstairs. When immigration did open it was a breeze. Both sets were efficient and there were no questions asked before getting my Thai visa. You used to get a shorter one if you arrived by land rather than air (14 days instead of 30) but now you get 45 days whichever way you arrive.
Before the sleeper arrived the local train to Hat Yai departed. Four third class coaches hauled by an old Alsthom diesel. There’s plenty of freight to observe as intermodals arrive/depart on a regular basis, there’s just nowhere to get a decent shot of them.
The State Railway of Thailand are still an oasis of (mostly) vintage diesel traction.
This being SRT the sleeper was late! Eventually, a loud Hitachi built diesel of the 45xx number series backed 2 sleeper cars and a 3rd class coach into the station. The couple of dozen of us waiting soon boarded it and we were off with the Hitachi making lots of noise despite the light load.
On arrival at Hat Yai our two sleepers were detached by the station pilot, a battered old ‘Shovelnose’ which deposited us on the rear of the Bangkok train. There’s no buffet car anymore but hawkers came through the train selling water or chicken with sticky rice (40b) so hunger and dehydration aren’t a problem. Within 15 minutes we were off – Bangkok bound, where we’re due to arrive at midday. I’ll be amazed if we’re on time! Now the crew have made all the beds up and I’m laid out on my lower bunk relaxing. An early night beckons methinks.
Day 10 and last day in KL as tomorrow I head North for the border and into Thailand to make my way to Bangkok. With it being my last day I was determined to make the most of it and thankfully, the weather played ball insofar that it didn’t actually rain today!
I was up early as usual but this time I headed straight out, breakfasted on roti, then made my way to the old Kuala Lumpur station to begin my trip on the electric train service to Port Klang, a trip I’ve done many times in the past. I’m not going to blog about it in detail here as I took copious notes so it’s worth doing as a separate trip report. The Klang valley rail routes are being modernised, which is causing a lot of chaos in the interim, but no pain, no gain – as they say.
I really enjoyed being able to get out and about again and see the changes in the decade since I last traversed the route (some good, some bad). On the way back I stopped at Klang itself in order to get some shots of yet another metro extension, the Bandar Utama – Klang line. I photographed some of the Northern works the other day but this was my first chance to see some of the Southern works. The station at Jalan Meru on the North bank of the Klang river is especially impressive due to its size and height.
To the right of the new metro is the 1961 double-deck bridge which is ‘preserved’ with the lower level used as a walkway/cycle path but it’s in a bit of a state.
I’d visited Klang a few times as it’s the base of SMH rail, a company who maintain the ‘blue tiger’ locomotives for KTM but who also build other traction for export, including monorail cars for India. What I hadn’t done before is explore much of the town or even cross the river. This time I did and found a thriving Indian community with so many clothing and bangle shops it reminded me of India itself. That said, there were what looked like some excellent Chinese eateries too. Oh, and a humongous new park and ride multistory carpark next to the railways station that looks very recent but has 4 of its 5 floors abandoned.
Heading back to town I stopped off at Subang Jaya, the only intermediate station on the ‘Skytrain’ service from KL Sentral to Skypark Terminal. Converted from a former freight line the route opened to passenger services in 2018. It’s not been a success. I travelled on the hourly service the other day. I was one of only 4 people on the way out and the only passenger on the way back. Today there were two of us! The reason I wanted to catch it today was that the stock on the route is formed from old EMUs from 1995 and today I’d seen a vintage Class 81 on the route. The Class 81s were designed by UK company Hunslet but built by Jenbacher. They were based on the Class 323 units used in the UK and sounded exactly the same. They were withdrawn in 2012 when the new Chinese units arrived as they were in a real state due to a lack of spares, but in 2018, 5 of the 18 strong class were refurbished and returned to service. Only now they’ve been re-tractioned and the familiar 323 whine is gone. Even so, it was great to be travelling on one again.
Set 05 approaches Subang Jaya from the airport.I had no problem finding a seat!
I timed my visit well. It seems the service is going to be mothballed from February 15th due to a lack of patronage the large subsidy required and the fact the units are required elsewhere. There are doubts it will ever return. Plus I’m told 81s are rarely used on the route, so I was lucky!
Whilst I was waiting for the service I nipped out on the nearby MRT system to kill some time and stopped off at the imaginatively named SS16 station. Built high above the suburbs it give an interesting view of suburban life in KL.
KL’s ‘Coronation Street’ – or ‘Neighbours’?
Now I’m back at home packing, ready for moving on tomorrow. I was going to nip out to Jalan Sultan for a last beer but my ‘local’ is closed today and everywhere else is packed which made me change my mind. It’s been fun here, so I don’t mind. But I’ll miss my early morning alarm call from the Muezzin at the Mosque across the road, and Roti Canai breakfasts. Still tomorrow’s another day and there’s lots more to see and do yet…
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I’d fully intended to have a day out with the camera today but yet again, the weather conspired against me. When I looked out of the hotel window at 7am this morning the rain was already on the way through heavy grey skies, which put the kibosh on my plans. So, another day working from Bigland Towers KL branch it was then! It was a wise choice the day was one of perpetual heavy showers. I was here in January 12 years ago but I don’t remember the month being as wet as this. Ah well…
Having reconciled myself to working from home I did nip out for for food and enjoyed another excellent roto canai breakfast. For most people the holidays seem to be over which meant Chinatown was much quieter than it has been the past few days as a stroll around before returning home confirmed. Back at home I settled into a similar routine as the one I had when I was here over a decade ago. Work rest and play – only without the same photographic opportunities due to the weather!
The day passed speedily and profitably enough. The rain even held off long enough for me to have a wander, get my daily exercise and explore outside the bounds of Chinatown as I was looking to stock up on some Indian Ayurvedic soap. Malaysia’s one of the best places for buying it outside of India but the only place I could find sold it in bulk and I’m not ready to carry a couple of kilos of it around just yet!
By 18:00 I was more than happy to nip out for the beer that I’d planned to have the other night but just as I did the heavens opened once more and we were treated to yet another torrential downpour. I wasn’t going to let it put me off so I sat outside a familair haunt to shelter from the rain and watch the world go by as I recreated an old picture,
When I was here in Kuala Lumpur for several weeks in 2012 there was a particular Chinese restaurant on the corner of Jalan’s Sultan and Hang Lekir that became a favourite haunt. The food was good and reasonably priced, the beer cold and the location was ideal for people-watching. Across the road was a collection of hawkers stalls, one of which prepared and sold claypot chicken rice. I often used to sit and watch the chap juggling the various pots as it was a popular place and he was always busy. Here’s the picture I took from across the street on the 15th January 2012.
I went back in 2017 but my favourite restaurant had closed down and the pavement outside was covered in stalls. It’s still closed now but there’s a new Indian foodstall that’s taken over the pitch so I can sit, have a beer and recreate the picture – because the same guy is still cooking those claypots! Here’s how he looks almost exactly 11 years later. He’s wearing well!
Tomorrow’s my last day in KL so (come hell or high-water) I’m getting out to explore…
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Whilst the Chinese new year has been quiet these past few days (apart from fireworks every night) the holiday finally burst into life this morning. I’d been out for breakfast to a new cafe serving a range of Indian dishes including my favourite Roti Canai. Apart from the excellence of the food the restaurant was great for watching the food being prepared as there was a sub-kitchen with a griddle at the front where a young Indian lad was cooking Murtabaks, Rotis and keeping busy with a wok. He was happy for me to get shots of him working which made for great shots like this.
Throwing Roti dough from the pile of balls you can see in the foreground. The dough thrown around in a circular motion to stretch it wafer-thin then its folded over several times to form the layers that help make rotis so light.
Heading back to the hotel I found the local Chinese temple was packed with people celebrating the new year and a group of lion dancers had turned up to add to the festivities, which made quite a spectacle. The combination of raucous percussive and acrobatic performances drew a large crowd. Here’s a few pictures.
Prayers and incense inside the temple.Two lion dancers leaping from post to post. The skills they display are amazing as the co-ordination needed between the two men is intense. One slip…The lion flicks oranges into the crowd.
The whole area was buzzing as so many people appear to still be on holiday because of New Year – and not just the Chinese community. I’m assuming many building sites remain closed judging by the numbers of young Indian men I saw out and about. The numbers made me decide against venturing far as I suspected all the trains would be packed. Instead I wandered over to the old station for a couple of hours to take pictures there. It’s on my doorstep after all. The place was busier than I’ve seen it since I arrived, manly with Indian families catching trains up to the Batu Caves to visit the Hindu shrines there. Mind you, the fact the train service is so poor now added to the numbers waiting. When there’s only one train and hour instead of two they’re bound to be busy.
A KTM Komuter service to Batu Caves calls at KLs original main station.
Despite the absence of a lot of trains I had a pleasant couple of hours mooching around the wonderful old station whilst managing to get a few worthwhile library images including shots of the new fleet of Intercity electric trains that have been purchased to expand the service. They’re in a different livery to the earlier ETS fleet so stand out.
Set ETS213 calls at KL whilst working a service from Butterworth to Kuala Lumpur Sentral. Clearly, the nose cone over the coupling has taken a beating at some point. On the plus side, I only saw one broken window on this set!
Retiring to my hotel for a couple of hours to edit pictures I’d intended to maybe pop out for a rare beer tonight and get some pictures but the weather had other ideas. We’ve actually had a warm and fairly sunny day. So much so I decided to leave my brolly at home when I went out to eat. That was a big mistake! Whilst I was out we got hit with a torrential rainstorm which meant I got a soaking on the way home, so tonight’s been another quiet one at home listening to the thunder and fireworks. Maybe tomorrow…
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Have I really been here a week already? Time’s flying! I’ve settled into routine that’s governed by the weather as we’ve had a lot of rain these past few days – especially today. I’d planned to have a day out exploring but when I looked out of the window at 7am this morning the weather really wasn’t playing ball. Heavy grey clouds dominated the skyline and it wasn’t long before the torrential rain arrived – hardly the conditions for decent photography so I decided that a day sat in my hotel room editing hundreds of pictures would be a better use of my time. You can find the results of my efforts in this gallery. Eventually the rain eased long enough for me to nip out and find some brunch. I fancies something different this morning so I checked out a couple of eateries around the old market which is now full of tourist shops, but the nearby streets still have some traditional local eateries. One was packed, but I did find a table in this establishment where I enjoyed a very typical Malaysian breakfast – Roti Canai. Accompanied by a rich curry sauce these flatbreads are both delicious and filling.
I wandered home via a very subdued Chinatown. The combination of the weather and the fact it’s Sunday had really dampened its spirits, not that I was too bothered as I’d plenty more to do at home. Trying to keep on top of picture editing on trips like this can be quite a chore. You’re torn between going out with the camera as you’re only passing through and there’s so much to see, but you also want to show off what you’ve taken. At least the weather solved that conundrum for me!
By mid afternoon I was edited out (researching captions is even more time consuming than editing) so I decided to have a mooch around on the trains to check out a possible new location and check on engineering work outside Sentral station. Sadly, by the time I’d got to my first location the heavens opened again – and this time they stayed open! I did manage to find one thing of interest, this old Japanese Bo-Bo-Bo locomotive imported for use on contractors trains.
The three bogie arrangement has never caught on in the UK, only the ‘Chunnel’ shuttle trains use it, but it gained traction (if you’ll pardon the pun) in both Italy and Japan. If anyone can supply any background on this particular type of loco I’d be grateful.
Sadly, the location scouting was a bust. Still, it was my first trip out on the LRT system on this visit, which was quite entertaining as the trains were packed with loads of young Indian men out shopping as they’d got a day off from the building sites they’d have been working on during the week. It was the same when I got back to Chinatown. Guys were huddled under walkways and bridges trying to make the most of their holiday whilst staying dry! I sought shelter in my usual eating house and stuffed myself with chicken curry, rice and veg before waddling home to dry out and relax.
With it being the weekend Dawn and I had arranged to video call each other through the wonders of Whatsapp. My, how technology has changed! No more waiting for letters or making expensive telephone calls, now you can talk to each other face to face for free! As someone who travelled a lot in the ‘olden days’ I still can’t quite get used to how easy it is to keep in touch now – but it’s lovely being able to do so. The distance between us just melts away…
The rain’s stopped so I went for one kast wander along Jalan Sultan to watch the world go by and also record a short video that illustrates an important problem the street suffers from. The street’s a vibrant place to eat. It’s lined with all manner of restaurants, cafe’s and street stalls to cater for every budget. The smells are delicious. But. It’s also a one-way street that’s often clogged with cars. They’re like a moving metal barrier down the middle of the street. If only it could be pedestrianised the way Jalan’s Petaling and Hang Lekir are…
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It’s been a quiet one here in Kuala Lumpur, mainly because the weather has been awful! We’ve had thunderstorms most evenings whilst I’ve been here although they’ve cleared pretty quickly but this morning I woke up to heavy rain which stayed with us until the early afternoon. I decided this seemed like a good day to work from home so spent much of the day indoors, taking it easy and editing some of the several hundred pictures I’ve taken over the past few days. The desk in my room’s adjacent to the window so I could watch the world go by as I worked, observing people huddled beneath umbrellas as they went about their business. The streets were actually pretty quiet but that was hardly surprising as many shops and restaurants have closed for the next few days. The Chinese community takes New Year seriously with many businesses closing for several days or even a week.
Eventually, hunger and the need to stretch my legs got the better of me so I mid-afternoon wandered through Chinatown to see what was going on. The answer was – very little! Some businesses were beginning to prepare for the evening and the Malay food stalls on Jalan Cheng Lock were open as usual. I fueled up on curried chicken rice, jackfruit and salad for the princely sum of 8 ringgit (£1.50) before returning home to continue work. You can find the results of my efforts here and here.
This evening I played tourist and visited the ‘River of life’, which is rather good. It’s an art installation on the confluence of the two rivers from which Kuala Lumpur allegedly got its name. The rivers are filled with smoke then illuminated at night. The backdrop is spectacular as it’s formed by the Masjid Jamek and business district.
Tomorrow I’ll be back to exploring. There’s so much to see that the few more days I have here will soon fly by. Hopefully, the weather will play ball – unlike today.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s a short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a very busy day and I’ve a bucketload of pictures to sort out after travelling the length and breadth of the Klang valley. It’s been a fascinating experience as I’ve been able to say how the different areas connect, the styles of housing, where certain communities have bases – and how the whole place hangs together. Admittedly, it’s not the bread and butter of your normal tourist, but then I did all that stuff a few times back in the 1990s. I’ve plenty of material for a couple of blogs on the importance of public transport and how it makes cities livable, but that’s for the future.
Tomorrow’s Chinese New Year so I’m going to take a break from exploring and stay local. Well, I am in Chinatown after all. To be honest I’ve no idea what may happen as I’ve not bothered checking so anything and everything will be a surprise. If everything shuts down that’s equally fine as I’ve plenty to keep me occupied, but I suspect that won’t be the case.
In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures taken during the day.
A Putrajaya line metro arrives at the interchange station of Sungeh Boluh to the North West of the Klang valley. The picture was taken from atop yet another station multi-storey car park. This line is only part open. The majority of the route (which heads South-East) is due to open in March, which is unfortunate timing as I’ll just miss it. Here’s what’s known as a challenging work environment! I’d hate to have been the person putting the safety case together for this lot. This is the new Shah Alam metro line under construction at Glenmarie. Building over a live railway and roads complex whilst surrounded by pylons and high-voltage cables? Nice!
I know I’ve been concentrating on railway pictures these past few days – so much so that I’ve had a complaint from my sister! – but I promise to post some other stuff from Chinatown tomorrow. It’s not that I haven’t been taking any, it’s just that they’ve not been a priority. Anyways, here goes…
This is the local fish and meat market which is tucked away down a series of alleys near where I’m staying. Public Health inspectors look away now.!
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I’ve had another day exploring the changes around the Klang valley today which started by heading to the opposite end of the Kajang line to the one I’d previously explore. The route down to Kajang opened a few months after my last visit to Malaysia in 2017 so this was my first opportunity to explore. Starting at Pasir Seni station just outside my hotel, the route traverses the centre of KL underground with the first surface station being out at Taman Pertama. The line then runs above ground all the way to Kajang where the terminal station’s built next to the KTMB ‘Komuter’ station. I found it a fascinating trip as I’d only ever explored that part of the Klang valley by conventional rail. What struck me was how much new building has been going on. We’re not talking small, low-rise developments either. Take a look at this lot around Taman Pertama station! The picture was taken from the rooftop of a multi-storey carpark at the next station on the line.
At Kajang there was a similar car-park (both are part of the station infrastructure and billed as ‘park and ride’) that allowed me to get similar shots only with the advantage of having the conventional railway as a contrast..
A Kajang line service reaches the end of the line. The trains are from Siemens ‘Inspiro’ family. The bodyshells were built by CRRC Nanjing Puzhen and shipped to Malaysia where the vehicles were assembled. There’s 58 four-car sets available to provide services on the line. An Inspiro passes Cheras Christian Cemetery en-route to Kajang. An Inspiro leaves Kajang and heads for the city centre seen in the background. You can just make out the twin Petronas Towers in the right background. What I find interesting about the Klang valley is that, despite all this development, it’s still quite green – as can be seen from this picture. It’s hilly and most of the hills are left untouched. The undergrowth’s really quite thick too, almost qualifying as jungle, whilst other areas are more manicured. Yet more new high rise developments under construction right next to a metro station. Note how these are normally built atop large car-parks, then have a garden area and shared facilities surrounding the actual tower blocks. Many of these complexes have direct access to the metro stations in the form of covered walkways. as the trains are driverless passengers can get a grandstand view of the journey. Here I’ve blurred passing underneath central KL…
Needless to say, I’ve a lot more photos to edit and get on my Zenfolio site, this is just a taster. Now I’m back at the hotel after having a few hours people-watching in Chinatown. I’ll elaborate on that tomorrow. Right now I’m about to switch off for the evening and relax. We’ve got another heavy thunderstorm hitting us this evening. We’ve had one every day since I arrived, but at least I’m out of harm’s way as the rain is torrential! Time for an escapist film methinks…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 