KL Monorail

The KL Monorail Line is the only operational monorail system in Malaysia. Operated as part of the Rapid KL system by Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it is one of the components of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. The line is numbered 8 and coloured light green on official transit maps.
Due to improper infrastructure planning and the inadequate size of the rolling stock, the KL Monorail is commonly cited as the most unsatisfactory rail line of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System.

History

This urban monorail line was opened on 31 August 2003, with 11 stations running on two parallel elevated tracks. It connects the KL Sentral transport hub in the south and Titiwangsa in the north with the "Golden Triangle", a commercial, shopping, and entertainment area consisting of the Bukit Bintang area, and surrounded by Jalan Imbi, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, and Jalan Raja Chulan.
The monorail scheme was announced by Kuala Lumpur City Hall in January 1990 after the Malaysian Government gave the go-ahead to the scheme at a cabinet meeting in June 1989. Its cost was then estimated at RM 143 million. The, 22-station system is designed to carry more than 34,000 passengers a day on a 20-minute loop through Kuala Lumpur's bustling commercial core. The plan is to build it in two phases: in the first, 16 stations will be served over ; and in the later stage, another loop will be added. The first phase was expected to be completed within two years.
According to plans dating back to the 1990s, the planned line was to have two branches, with one branch going via Maharajalela station and then on to the city centre, and the other branch going to Mid Valley, Abdullah Hukum, Jalan Klang Lama and ending at Kampung Pasir, which will probably include integration with KTM Komuter's Port Klang Line at Petaling or Pantai Dalam stations. KL Sentral and Tun Sambanthan were planned to be the common stations. Ultimately only the downtown branch was built, due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
While another plan from Kuala Lumpur People-Mover Rapid Transit, under the "Kuala Lumpur Linear City" development plan, depicts that the project will include building of twin track monorail guideway beams, 20 elevated stations, two depots and 14 monorail trains. There will be two phases to the project's construction. Between Jalan Tun Razak and Brickfields, Section 1 will span approximately 8 kilometres, while Section 2 would connect Tun Sambanthan and KL Sentral Station via a 12-stop shuttle service. Section 2, which is unfinished and spans, begins in Brickfields and travels via Kampung Abdullah Hukum, Lembah Pantai, Pantai Dalam, Taman Desa, OUG, and finally ends at Kampung Pasir. KL PRT Sdn Bhd would oversee the project management while carrying out the PRT transport system's construction, upkeep, and operation during the course of a 30-year concession. The PRT system planned to accommodate up to 18,000 passengers per hour per direction with 168 seats in each train and 630 passengers per train at a headway of up to two minutes between trains. The first section of the project, which runs between P. Ramlee Station and Hang Tuah Station, was supposed to be finished in time for trial runs during the Commonwealth Games in September 1998. Construction on the project started in December 1996 and Sections 1 and 2 were scheduled to be finished in early 1999 and 2000 respectively.
Work was scheduled to begin in June 1990, but was postponed to May 1991 after the city's mayor complained that tenders submitted for preparatory work were too high. There has been no activity on the project since and few details are available on how the project is expected to proceed. The main contractor is a local company, BNK, which had little success in its search for backers to finance its share of the venture. Part of its problem in securing money stems from the project's escalating cost estimates, and part from its lack of a track record in handling such huge projects.
Construction was re-initiated by Hitachi, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis led to cessation of work in December 1997. When work was resumed in July 1998, MTrans took over, locally manufacturing its own rolling stock and completing the project to save cost; the line was completed at a cost of MYR 1.18 billion.
As the line was opened in 2003, it was agreed that the parent company and owner of the KL Monorail Line, KL Monorail System Sdn Bhd under its parent company KL Infrastructure Group, would hold a 40-year concession to operate the monorail. The line and number of stations remains unchanged since 2003. Based on the 1999 transit map, the KL Monorail line originally had 19 stations, starting from Titiwangsa, Chow Kit, Wawasan, P. Ramlee, Raja Chulan, Bukit Bintang, Imbi, Hang Tuah, Merdeka, Sultan Sulaiman, Tun Sambanthan, and a subsequently unbuilt extension which consisted of stations in Syed Putra, Taman Seputeh, Abdullah Hukum, Lembah Pantai, Pantai Dalam, Taman Desa, OUG and Kampung Pasir.
Since the start of operations, the KL Infrastructure Group suffered losses, largely due to depreciation and interest repayment costs. On 30 April 2004, KL Infra posted a net loss of MYR 46.24 million on a MYR 15.08 million revenue. KL Infra had also taken up a MYR 300 million Malaysian government loan and a MYR 260 million infrastructure loan from the Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad . In addition, KL Infra had proposed to buy MTrans' three subsidiary companies to improve its business, but failed after Scomi bought up some of the targeted companies.

Government takeover

In April 2007, talks were under way between KL Infra and the government and the Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad to sell the KL Monorail Line to the Prasarana Malaysia, which then had already owned both the Kelana Jaya line and the Ampang line, as well as 10% of KL Infra shares. KL Infra was cited as intending to exit Malaysia's monorail business. The takeover is part of the government's master plan to improve the urban public transport sector.
SPN gave its agreement in principle to the takeover on 22 December 2006 and a follow-up meeting was held on 6 February 2007 with the government on the takeover of its operational assets and assumption of loan liabilities. A due diligence audit was conducted from 5 March 2007 to 27 April 2007 by consultants appointed by the government. Following agreement to the takeover, BPM granted KL Monorail an extension until 29 April 2007 for an interest repayment amounting to MYR 4,244,801.91, which was originally due on 29 December 2006.
However, the takeover seemed to have suffered a setback at least from the perspective of KL Infra when on 26 March 2007, it was notified by BPM that it was not going to entertain any further extensions for interest repayment. Subsequently on 27 April 2007, the bank notified that it would not be granting any moratorium on interest repayments. On 29 April 2007, KL Monorail was not able to make the repayment of the interest instalment which had become due.
On 3 May 2007, KL Monorail was issued a default notice by BPM which sought repayment of the entire principal sum of MYR 609,616,423.73 and capitalised interest of MYR 296,428,910.88 totalling MYR 906,045,334.61. The company was granted seven days from that day to repay the entire sum, which it failed to do. On 14 May 2007, Mohd Anwar Bin Yahya and Cho Choo Meng were appointed receivers and managers by Amanah Raya, the Security Trustee for BPM. Nevertheless, the takeover process is still deemed ongoing, KL Infra stating that it will continue to engage the government and BPM to address the proposed takeover of KL Monorail by Prasarana based on earlier discussions and an approval in principle.
One of the effects of the appointment of receivers and managers is the possibility that KL Infra would not be receiving any compensation for KL Monorail should the takeover by SPN have gone through.
The trading of KL Infra was suspended from 15 May 2007. On the same day, KL Infra's board announced to Bursa Malaysia that it had formed the opinion that it was not solvent and would not be able to pay all its debts in full within a period not exceeding twelve months. On 28 November 2007, Prasarana Malaysia signed a sale-and-purchase agreement with KL Monorail Systems, effectively making Prasarana the operator of KL Monorail, and resulting in Prasarana taking over the MYR 882 million BPM loan.

List of stations

The line consists of a single dual-way line that links areas of inner Kuala Lumpur not served by rail transport, namely Brickfields, Bukit Bintang, and Chow Kit, with existing LRT, MRT, ERL and KTM Komuter stations at KL Sentral, Muzium Negara, Hang Tuah, Bukit Bintang, Bukit Nanas, Medan Tuanku and Titiwangsa. The two termini are on a single track with a Spanish solution layout.
The stations are designed as elevated structures with ticketing facilities on either the ground level or the first-floor level. The platforms are on the top floor, separated from the monorail lines by fencing. They were originally covered by large canvas roofs, which were replaced in 2014 by aluminium zinc roofs. Certain stations are situated above roadways, or are slightly longer than others. Each station used to be designated with a sponsor, with route maps associating each station with a particular product brand.
The depot is between KL Sentral and Tun Sambanthan.

Station code	Station name	Images	Platform type	Interchange station	Notes
	KL Sentral redONE		Terminus	Southern terminus. Connecting station with: KTM Batu Caves-Pulau Sebang Line, KTM Tanjung Malim-Port Klang Line,, LRT Kelana Jaya Line, ERL KLIA Ekspres ERL KLIA Transit and MRT Kajang Line	Accessed via NU Sentral shopping mall if coming from KL Sentral Linkbridge access with a n850-meter walking distance to Muzium Negara for MRT Kajang Line.
	Tun Sambanthan		Side		Exit to Methodist College Kuala Lumpur and Brickfields.
	Maharajalela		Side		Exit to Merdeka 118.
	Hang Tuah		Side	Interchange station with LRT Ampang Line and LRT Sri Petaling Line	Exit to LaLaport and Bukit Bintang City Centre via the transit hub.
	Imbi		Side		Exit to Berjaya Times Square via an elevated walkway.
	Bukit Bintang		Side	Connecting station with MRT Kajang Line.	Pedestrian access to KLCC on the LRT Kelana Jaya Line via an elevated walkway from Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Exit to Lot 10 and Sungei Wang Plaza via elevated walkways.
	Raja Chulan		Side		Pedestrian access to KLCC on the LRT Kelana Jaya Line via an elevated walkway from Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.
	Bukit Nanas		Side	Connecting station with LRT Kelana Jaya Line.	Linkway to LRT Dang Wangi Station
	Medan Tuanku		Side	Connecting station with LRT Ampang Line and LRT Sri Petaling Line	Pedestrian access to Sultan Ismail on the LRT Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines via 580 meter elevated walkway. Exit to Quill City Mall via an elevated walkway.
	Chow Kit		Side		Exit to Chow Kit district and Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
	Titiwangsa		Terminus	Northern terminus. Interchange station with LRT Ampang Line, LRT Sri Petaling Line and MRT Putrajaya Line. Proposed interchange with MRT Circle Line.