Ampang Line

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Kuala Lumpur Public Transit System

Ampang Line Aliran Ampang
Alignment	Sentul Timur - Ampang
Type	Light Rail Transit
Service area	Kuala Lumpur and surrounding Klang Valley
System length	15 km
Stations	18
Operational mode	With driver
Operational date	1996
Operator	Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB)

The Ampang Line is one of three lines in Kuala Lumpur's light rail transit (LRT) network. The other two lines are the Kelana Jaya Line and Sri Petaling Line. All three are operated by Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (Rapid KL).

The Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines are the new names for STAR LINE LRT system or simple STAR LRT, which was from Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd, the former concessionaire of the system.

STAR Line was Kuala Lumpur's first LRT system.

Besides the LRT system, the other rail-based public transport modes in Kuala Lumpur include the KL Monorail, KTM Komuter, KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit.

1 Using the Ampang Line
2 System details
3 History
4 Other interesting facts
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Using the Ampang Line

The 15km Ampang Line runs between Sentul Timur in the north and Ampang in the east of Kuala Lumpur. It has 18 stations including the two end stations.

The stations (from north to east) are:

Station code	Station name	Platform	Interchange
S18	Sentul Timur	Side
S17	Sentul	Side
S16	Titiwangsa	Side	Titiwangsa Monorail station
S15	PWTC	Side	Walking distance to Putra Komuter station
S14	Sultan Ismail	Side
S13	Bandaraya	Side	Walking distance to Bank Negara Komuter station
S12	Masjid Jamek	Side	Kelana Jaya Line
S11	Plaza Rakyat	Side
S10	Hang Tuah	Side	Hang Tuah Monorail station
S09	Pudu	Side
S08	Chan Sow Lin	Island	Sri Petaling Line
S07	Miharja	Side
S06	Maluri	Side
S05	Pandan Jaya	Side
S04	Pandan Indah	Side
S03	Cempaka	Side
S02	Cahaya	Side
S01	Ampang	Side

Ampang Line route map

The Ampang Line and Sri Petaling Line share the same tracks between Sentul Timur and Chan Sow Lin stations, where they diverge.

Commuters travelling from the Ampang direction and heading towards Sri Petaling can easily transfer at Chan Sow Lin because it is a cross-platform transfer. Trains are also timed to meet each other, cutting waiting time to a minimum.

Transferring to the other systems may not be as easy because the other rail-based system were developed separately. Commuters would have to exit one system by leaving through the turnstiles and buy a new ticket before continuing with their jourey. There is usually a lot of stair-climbing, escalator use and walking while transfers to the Kelana Jaya Line at Masjid Jamek may even require crossing a busy road (if you are headed to Sentul Timur).

Touch 'n Go stored-value cards are accepted for travel of Ampang Line. This eases transfers between the Kelana Jaya Line, KL Monorail and KTM Komuter as these systems accept the card. Touch 'n Go cards are not yet accepted by KLIA Ekspres or KLIA Transit.

[edit] System details

The system runs General Electric trains identical to those used for the Docklands Light Railway.

[edit] History

13 November 1992: Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan Sdn Bhd (Star LRT) incorporated to implement Kuala Lumpur's first LRT project.
22 December 1992: Franchise agreement between the Malaysian government and Star LRT signed for the development, ownership and operation of LRT system.
30 August 1994: Work on the project officially commenced.
16 December 1996: Phase One between Ampang and Sultan Ismail stations begins operations.
11 July 1998: Branch line from Chan Sow Lin station to Sri Petaling station begins operations. This branch forms part of the Sri Petaling Line.
6 December 1998: Extension from Sultan Ismail station to Sentul Timur station begins operations.
1 December 2002: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) takes over ownership and operations of Star LRT under the first phase of Kuala Lumpur's public transport restructuring exercise. SPNB renames the system Starline.
November 2004: Operations of Starline transferred to Rapid KL. Ownership of assets remain with SPNB.
19 July 2005: Rapid KL announces that Starline's two lines will be renamed the Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines. All signage will be changed by 2006.
27 October 2006: A six-coach LRT train which came in from Ampang overshoots the end of the elevated tracks at Sentul Timur station, resulting in the front half of the first coach dangling in the air about 25m above the ground.

[edit] Other interesting facts

It was featured in the closing scene of the 1999 Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones movie Entrapment. It was supposedly Pudu station in the movie, but in reality, the scene was shot at Bukit Jalil station.

Although Rapid KL has renamed what used to be Starline into the Sri Petaling and Ampang lines, it would have been more accurate to have renamed them as two branches of the same line. Technically, both lines exist as one as they share the same services, such as signalling and passenger platforms. Both lines share quite a significant part of their service in the network together, between Sentul Timur and Chan Sow Lin. This is misnomer is cumbersome as what used to be referred to as Starline or Star LRT has been renamed by the mouthful Sri Petaling and Ampang lines.

The Sentul LRT station is nowhere near the Sentul KTM Komuter station.