OZU /MALAYSIA /KUALA LUMPUR /GUIDE
From Kuala Lumpur airport to the city
1 h route3 stopsBest: The train doesn’t run 24 h: for red-eye flights, plan on the roadUpdated July 2026
Fifty-five kilometres separate the airport from the centre, considerably further than people assume, and that’s where most of the trouble starts: at rush hour, the difference between train and road can be well over an hour.
The commonest confusion is a different one: there are two trains, KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit, and they aren’t competitors. Same operator, same track, one runs non-stop, the other calls at four places. Worth being clear on before you buy.
The route, stop by stop
3 STOPS- 01
KLIA Ekspres: the non-stop
It leaves from terminals 1 and 2 (their official names for some years now, though plenty of people still say KLIA and klia2) and reaches KL Sentral in about thirty minutes with no intermediate stops.
Between the two terminals it takes three minutes.
The advantage isn’t only time: it’s immunity to traffic, which on this motorway can be dire. If your hotel is near an LRT, MRT or monorail station, the connection at KL Sentral solves almost everything, because every network converges there.
- 02
KLIA Transit: the same train, with stops
It runs on the same track under the same operator, but calls at Salak Tinggi, at Putrajaya & Cyberjaya, and at Bandar Tasik Selatan before reaching KL Sentral. Hence the longer journey.
It has two good uses and no others: reaching Putrajaya, which is a trip worth making, and getting off at Bandar Tasik Selatan, where the TBS coach station is and where buses to Melaka and the south of the country leave from.
For the centre, take the Ekspres.
- 03
Bus and car: when the train isn’t running
Airport coaches leave from both terminals and also end at KL Sentral, in a little over an hour if the motorway behaves. They’re considerably cheaper than the train, a difference you feel travelling as a group: though at that point a car often matches it.
For red-eye flights you have to plan on the road, because the train doesn’t run around the clock.
Ride-hailing apps work normally and have signposted pick-up points at both terminals. Airport taxis use a coupon system, bought beforehand at a counter, which avoids haggling.
Frequently asked
What’s the difference between KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit?
They share an operator and a track. The Ekspres runs non-stop between the terminals and KL Sentral in about 30 minutes. The Transit covers the same route but calls at Salak Tinggi, Putrajaya & Cyberjaya and Bandar Tasik Selatan, so it takes longer.
How do you get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2?
On the train itself: the KLIA Ekspres links the two terminals in about three minutes. It’s the quickest way and the one used by passengers transferring between airlines.