THE new 37.8km LRT Shah Alam Line that runs between Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang was launched on June 28.
Better known as LRT3, the line linking Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya and Johan Setia, Klang, is expected to benefit about two million people living along the corridor while improving connectivity across western Klang Valley and easing traffic congestion.
The government introduced a free ride period until Aug 14 to encourage more people to use the service and allow commuters to familiarise themselves with the new public transport system.
It was reported that LRT3, costing RM16.63bil, was planned to carry 67,000 passengers a day in its first year of operations and more than 117,000 daily within five years.
Despite it showing different usage patterns compared to other existing lines, users are still hopeful for its future while public transport advocates say it is too early to gauge its demand.
StarMetro took the LRT3 one weekday evening to see how smooth the ride is from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia and back.
Test ride
In Petaling Jaya, commuters predominantly board and disembark the train at Bandar Utama and Glenmarie 2 stations, which are the only stations that enable commuters to switch to the Kelana Jaya LRT and Kajang MRT lines.
In Shah Alam, most commuters disembark at the Seksyen 7 station that is surrounded by residential and small commercial areas.
For Klang, most commuters disembark at the Bandar Bukit Tinggi station that is connected to a mall and a major commercial area.
At other minor stations, the crowd did not seem to board or disembark during the time, which is quite a different pattern compared to other lines, where crowds frequently board and disembark the trains at minor stations rather than at terminals.
For example, on the Kelana Jaya LRT line, crowds are concentrated at stations at the centre of the line such as at Pasar Seni and Bukit Bintang, rather than the terminals of Putra Heights and Gombak.
Another trend observed was of the evening crowd being not as big as commuters of the Kelana Jaya and Kajang lines, despite it having longer intervals of eight minutes and shorter trains with only three coaches.Nevertheless, some public transport advocates and users say it is still too early to make a conclusion on the demand for LRT3.
Role of connecting stations
Malaysian Land Public Transport Fans chairman Zac Cheong said it was normal to see larger crowds at connecting stations, in this case at the Bandar Utama and Glenmarie 2 stations.
“These two stations will be used by commuters from Klang to switch to the Kelana Jaya or Kajang lines to get to Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
He also said there were many joyriders taking the train for leisure purposes during the free ride period, making it difficult to gauge whether the line was actually serving the working crowds who needed it the most.
Cheong, however, lamented the absence of interchange stations for LRT3.
“Connecting stations require commuters to scan their access card in and out every time they want to switch lines, which is a hassle.
“Major stations like Glenmarie 2 should have been an interchange (scanning not required) instead of a connecting station,” he said.
He opined that the number of trains serving LRT3 was insufficient, leading to lower frequencies.
“Currently, there are only about 22 trains serving the line.
“We need about 40 trains so that the frequency can be the same as other lines.
“However, it also needs to be noted that LRT3 is a feeder line, not a main line.
“It doesn’t offer direct access to Kuala Lumpur from Shah Alam and Klang, but it feeds the commuters into existing lines connecting to Kuala Lumpur.
“Feeder lines would usually have a smaller crowd compared to main lines.
“I believe LRT3 is mature enough to cater to more commuters in the future,” he said.
New developments vital
Transit Malaysia member Aqiel Mohd Sharifizal said the relatively small crowds in stations other than Bandar Utama and Glenmarie 2 could indicate that the developments around these stations have not caught up with the line’s presence yet.
“This will change in a few years after all the transit- oriented projects are completed.
“In BU11 for example, the upcoming The Capitol project adjacent to the LRT station will surely attract more people to use the service.
“Regular commuters also need more time to adjust their travel patterns to suit LRT3’s coverage,” said Aqiel, a student who used the public transport regularly.
He, however, criticised the absence of feeder bus services at some stations.
“There are only six stations along this line with the Rapid On-Demand responsive transit service available for first and last-mile connectivity.
“The areas around these stations could have benefitted from fixed permanent bus routes, even when they are not mature yet,” he said.
Another regular public transport user, Eugene Lai called for LRT3 to be later connected to the upcoming 
“Both the lines do not intersect currently.
“If LRT3 commuters have to switch lines twice to get to MRT3 through the Bandar Utama or Bukit Kiara Selatan stations, the additional time required here could discourage them from considering public transport as an option,” he said.
Lai, a food scientist, now cycles to Kayu Ara station in Petaling Jaya to take the LRT3 train to Shah Alam where he works, instead of switching between the Kajang line and LRT3 by taking the train from the TTDI MRT station, which is nearer his home.
“This (cycling to the LRT3 Kayu Ara station) actually saves me 10 to 15 minutes in travel time as I don’t need to switch lines,” he said.
It was reported earlier that the government planned to add more stations for LRT3, with an additional RM4.7bil allocation to reinstate Tropicana, Raja Muda, Temasya, Bukit Raja and Bandar Botanik stations that were previously dropped.
