Last month, MRT Corp released the official map for the MRT3 Circle Line, which has been approved by the government and is set to start operating in stages as early as December 2028. The finishing piece of the Klang Valley’s rail network is expected to be fully operational in 2030.
With the map, the impact of the loop line is evident, as you can see clearly its relationship to the other train lines. It shows 31 stations including the main hub at Titiwangsa, but excluding two stations listed as provisional (Salak Jaya and Bukit Kiara).
Since the map surfaced, there have been voices questioning MRT Corp’s move to have stations at supposedly affluent areas where residents are not likely to use public transport. That, according to FMT, is from “some social media users” and the news outlet put the question to MRT Corp CEO Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim.
“We have to traverse through areas such as Mont Kiara because at the end of the day, the MRT3 line is a circle. We need to be able to connect underserved communities in Segambut Dalam and Taman Sri Sinar with the rest of the line. As Mont Kiara happens to be along the way, we can’t skip it,” he said.
Zarif explained that MRT Corp decided it was better to have a station at Mont Kiara instead of not stopping, so that those residing and working there would also have the best possible transport service. He said there were workers who had to commute to MK to get to various eateries and service outlets there. There’s congestion leading to the area, and an MRT station was needed to ease the mobility of residents and workers.
He added that MRT3 Circle Line is designed to cover many areas currently not served, or underserved by the existing urban rail network. These areas include Segambut Dalam, Taman Sri Sinar, Setapak, Pandan, Pantai Permai and Jalan Klang Lama. The MRT3 stations could also branch out to more underserved areas in the future through spur lines.
Let’s take a look at the map and stations. Starting from the Titiwangsa hub in KL heading towards Setapak, the stations are Kampung Puah, Jalan Langkawi, Danau Kota, Setapak, Rejang, Setiawangsa, AU2, Taman Hillview, Tasik Ampang, Kampung Pandan, Pandan Indah and Taman Kencana. The next stretch of stations are in the Cheras area, and they are Taman Cheras (a.k.a. Yulek), Taman Midah, Jalan Yaacob Latif and Sri Permaisuri.
The line then bends towards Salak Selatan, Salak Jaya (provisional), Kuchai and Old Klang Road. The line then enters the Lembah Pantai area, with stations in Pantai Dalam, Pantai Permai, Universiti and UM. The final stretch covers the affluent areas of Bukit Kiara South, Bukit Kiara (provisional), Sri Hartamas and Mont Kiara, before heading to Bukit Segambut, Taman Sri Sinar (near Desa Parkcity in Kepong), Dutamas and Jalan Kuching before coming back to Titiwangsa.
The MRT3 Circle Line is 50.8 km long, 10.7 km of that will be underground, meaning that the bulk of it (40.1 km) will be elevated. The underground sections will be from Rejang to Setiawangsa, Universiti to Bukit Kiara South (the UM station is underground) and the long stretch from Sri Hartamas to just after Jalan Kuching station, where the line surfaces. The six stations here are also underground ones.
So, people in MK and Hartamas don’t take trains? IMO, this idea that “our public transport is bad” or “for the poor” is ingrained in many urban Malaysians and is rather backward. There are some who avoid trains even though their commute is served, preferring to spend more time in the jam and looking for parking. And that’s before we talk about costs.
There are faults and missing links for sure (that’s why a loop line is needed), but with the MRT Kajang Line onboard, we have a decent rail system in the Klang Valley, and it’s about to get better soon with the MRT Putrajaya Line joining the network (there’s a slight delay).
I have a feeling that many expat residents of areas such as Mont Kiara recognise this more than some middle class and above locals, and will be using the MRT3 along with the rest of us. After all, taking the train is a normal thing back in Tokyo, Seoul and London – there’s no stigma.
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Stupid subject by a foolish socmed user. Circle Line basically skirts around the urban areas of Klang Valley so of course it would pass over some affluent places that are located outskirts area, but out of 3 spokes, Taman Midah, Titiwangsa, Pantai Dalam are certainly not in affluent neighbourhoods.
Envy this very big circus MRT3 can bring. With just one ticket, U can enjoy the views along Kerinchi hillside highway, NPE, MRR2 without need to enroute to any KL Sentral. Best ever!
Simpan bodoh tu sikit. Yang duduk di Mont Kiara tu mungkin kaya. Tapi pekerja di kedai tu semua kaya ke?
This is so Malaysia. Only the poor ride the train. It is some ways yet before we see it a s a means of transport instead of a a sign of economic strength of an individual. Time is money, my friend. Wasting time in traffic is wasting money.
I’ve taken the MRT SG Buloh line for years now to commute into KL and I can say it is so refreshing to be able to rest or read or whatever instead of being in a jam and being stressed, looking out for motorbikes etc. No idea why anyone would assume that public transport is only for “the poor”. In European countries and US for example literally anyone and everyone takes the subway….
This is a.money pit mega project.We can survive pretty well without it.The billions could have helped rakyat.Now rakyat going to ask for alms later cos they wipe clean their KWSP savings thru repeated withdrawals.
Infrastructure very important.
With traffic jam.
Lower productivity,
Less wellness,
Company susah mau jaga staff macam tu….
To naik kapchai..? Jom..
Seriously? If you were running the country, we’d be going around in bullock carts.
We can survive pretty well without it you say?
You obviously don’t live in KL or come here to work.
Copy paste: “I’ve never met anyone IRL that thinks public transport is for the poor, where are these backward socmed people even coming from”
But not-so-rich ppl opt for riding motorbikes to commute daily. it’s a more cost-effective + reliable operating time.
RM5 petrol for a bike could easily cover 2-3 days transportation expenses to the office (average 30km distance daily).
if via MRT many need to include the cost from MRT station to home/office too.
They supposed to extend Kajang to Semenyih which so many people drive 20K to Kajang MRT and take train. Why not extend the MRT there from kajang to semenyih
If you compare both townships, Kajang is more populated and denser.
So what if it stops at the affluent areas while encircling the whole city?
I read somewhere sometime ago that the city is considered only truly developed , not when when the poor can afford drive to work but when the well to do are able not to drive to work
I’m in mid T20 income bracket and I use train, Grab and SOCAR for daily commute. We need to change the mindset public transportation is only for the poor; a country is consider developed when everyone is using public transportation.
Missing link here is putra heights to klia. And maybe to malacca./ port Dickson.
I see many middle class and lower class suburbs served by circle line. Not just high class ones.
Take grab to nearest ERL station
Personally, the MRT has been a godsent for me. I’ve bumped into my director and other T20 folks on the MRT station as well. We’d share a Grab to the office from there. Getting stuck in traffic jams is waste of time.
I’ve never met anyone IRL that thinks public transport is for the poor, where are these backward socmed people even coming from
When wil Start the Kepong Metro line
MRT3 IS NECESSARY
bro like srsly, i come from a high income background and my family literally moved from Mont Kiara to Cochrane, literally becoz we want to ditch our cars and use the mrt instead, traffic in malaysia is horrible, becoz very few are taking the train.
perosnally my mom and my dad prefer to take the mrt as it comes like every 5 to 10mins and we wont be caught up in a jam, which in kl, the jams are terrible. I also use it to travel to Taylors Uni, where im studying at, which requires me to change lines twice, but its still faster than taking a car due to the inevitable jam. the improvements in the transit system here has changed my life honestly
but i find that most malaysians have a stigma that taking the train means ur low class and cant affod a car, dude, my family can afford 10bmws if we want but we would rather take the train. malaysian thinking is jst so dated and it makes me envy the people in singapore where they dont associate public transport with the poor, my dads colleages who are expats mostly living in bukit bintang are also perfectly fine usisng the train system, its only malaysians that are complaning becoz of this unjustified stigma of taking public transport, i know that the trains dont cover a lot of first and last mile destinations and thats a good reason to take a car instead of the train, BUT IF YOU LIVE AND WORK NEAR A TRAIN STATION PLEASE USE THE TRAIN! THERE IS NO EXCUSE AND FOLLOWING THE STIGMA MAKES U NO BETTER THAN A PERSON OF LOWER CLASS
Pls, I beg all Malaysians to appreciate their train systems and utilise it whenever you can, MRT 3 is necessary to transition Malaysia to a developed country, and it would be great if there are projects of MRT/LRT 4,5,6,7 and beyond being considered to encourage most people to use the train system to reduce the cars on the road