The news of KLIA Express 57% price hike from RM35 to RM55 per way has been the viral topic among Malaysians.
For a start, the construction cost was borne by Malaysia government and during a parliamentary reply in 2009, every RM51 airport tax collected from passengers on international flights, RM5 goes to KLIA Express. Technically, KLIA Express is being given free money every time a passenger flies out from KLIA regardless if any passengers riding it.
The company stressed that it is one of the cheapest airport rail link in the world. But how true is that?
As frequent travelers, traveling to and from airport is part of our routine hence we have list down several cities and cost of rail travel from airport to city center as comparison.
To be fair, we will compare cities that has rail connections and the prices compared to KLIA Express. We will be using the cheapest rail choice.
[ultimatetables 1 /]
As you can see, our neighboring countries Singapore & Bangkok offers much cheaper rail transportation to the airport for the public.
Even prices in Europe are affordable for their living standard, Malaysia is a 3rd world country, you cant announce the price as cheap when people living in the country couldnt afford to pay for the ticket.
The decision by the government to build airport far away from KL city shouldnt follow by penalizing Malaysians to pay exorbitant price. Foreigners wont mind the fares as they might just pay once in their lifetime, it is the citizens that are bearing the pain.
If there is an cheaper rail alternative, we dont mind if KLIA Express charges RM1,000 or RM5,000 per way.
A public transport should be affordable for the public, unless there is an much cheaper alternative choice available, Malaysians and tourists are the ones suffering from this price hike.
Alternatives
I would definitely avoid KLIA Express once the price hike is effective. Here are some alternatives to get to KLIA
Airport Bus
- Skybus -KLIA2 to KL Sentral / Bandar Utama – RM9.99 / RM14.50 per way
- Aerobus – KLIA2 to KL Sentral / Petaling Jaya (Paradigm Mall) – RM9.00 per way
Uber
If you have 2 to 4 people traveling, consider taking Uber instead. Price to KLIA from KL City is fixed at RM90 per way sending you directly to your destination without the hassle.
If you are first time user, save RM30 for your first trip with this promo code: 4xvf4ue
Bloody rip off. It was already expensive. I only used it once. Big blow to Malaysian tourism. Wasn’t the location of Klia already an enough discouragement for travellers that they had to add this salt to the injury !
@Manzoor, true it was already expensive now they just put off everyone
The pricing is insane, even at european standards. I am paying for two people, round trip would be US$45, wtf. It is much cheaper to take a grab taxi when not travelling alone.