Rapid KL responds to viral TikTok revealing “empty” monorail and LRT station near Lalaport BBCC

You might have seen a viral TikTok video on your ForYou page where TikTok-er Sam Wong claimed that an entrance of the Hang Tuah monorail and LRT station—the station closest to the new Lalaport BBCC—is basically empty and unmanned. The viral video resulted in Rapid KL posting a response, saying that the entrance has “yet to be opened to the public”.

The TikTok

Posted just a day ago, TikTok and content creator Sam Wong posted a video titled “PLEASE FIX THIS MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT”. He shared his frustration regarding his attempt to use an entrance of the Hang Tuah interchange station. In the TikTok video, he showed how all three of the ticketing machines were “out of order”, and even the customer service counter was empty.

“We’re trying to get (access to) the monorail to Pavilion… all three ticket machines are out of service… we can’t get the token to Bukit Bintang. We want to go to the counter right? There’s no one at the counter… they expect everyone to have a sufficient Touch ‘n Go card to get into the station?” said Wong.

Wong continued to explain that there wasn’t even a top-up machine for Touch ‘n Go, either. The video has since garnered 65.7K views, 181 shares, and more than 3K likes. Commenters have also shared their frustrations, claiming that most ticket machines are out of order at train stations.

Rapid KL’s response

“Rapid KL apologises for the anxiety and inconvenience caused and has reached out directly to Mr. Wong,” said Rapid KL in their public response.

In addition to an apology, Rapid KL explained that the Level 1 entrance to Hang Tuah Station from LaLaport BBCC—the entrace Wong used—“is yet to be opened to the public”. A quick check online revealed that Hang Tuah Station has four different entrances, and the one nearest to Lalaport BBCC is its newest entrance.

“While pedestrians are allowed to enter the station from this entrance, its facilities, such as TVM and entrance gates that would lead to the Monorail platform, are currently under testing and yet to be operational,” continued Rapid KL.

Instead of using that entrance, Rapid KL suggests that passengers use the LRT Ampang entrance located on the ground floor instead to enter the Monorail platform. Directional signages, and customer service assistants, and Auxilliary Police would also be placed on Level 1 to provide assistance—which might have only been implemented after Wong’s video. As for when the Lalaport BBCC entrance would be open, it is expected to commence operations on 28 February 2022.

I’ve visited Lalaport BBCC, and the Hang Tuah station is extremely near the mall—which is pretty convenient for people who wish to use public transport to visit the mall. Now that Lalaport has officially been opened, it would have been very helpful for the nearby station to be fully operational. So I can imagine the frustration Wong and other visitors might have experienced with a not-so-operational Monorail entrance.

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