M’sian Student Walks 26KM Home & Braves Heavy Rain After 16 LRT Stations Close

Malaysian Student Walks 26km To Get Home After 16 LRT Stations Close

Like Singapore, there are many in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (KL) who rely heavily on public transport to get around.

As such, one can imagine how much inconvenience it brings when there’s a mass breakdown in the transportation system.

One Malaysian university student experienced it firsthand when he walked 26km home after 16 LRT stations were forced to close.

For local context, that’s the rough equivalent of the distance between the north and south of Singapore.

Student only supposed to walk 2.1km to nearest LRT

The student, Adam, who goes by @adameji7 on TikTok, shared a video of his experience walking 26km in a day to get home from university.

At the start, he revealed he had already walked his usual distance of 2.1km from the Universiti Malaya (UM) campus to the nearest LRT station of Kerinchi.

To his dismay, the station had closed down when he arrived due to a train service disruption.

Kerinchi is one of 16 stations that are closed until 15 Nov, according to The Star.

As he normally uses the train to get to his final station of Jelatek, Adam had no choice but to walk to KL Sentral so as to find other means of public transport.

A quick search on Google Maps reveals this would have added 3.8km to his journey on foot.

Student braves heavy rain during 26km trek to various LRT stations

As Adam made his way to KL Sentral, he was further challenged by a heavy downpour.

However, it did not dampen his spirits as he said via the video’s voiceover that he treated the walk as a cardio walkout.

Upon arrival, he described the scene at the transit hub as total ‘chaos’ as fellow commuters were rushing to get the next train.

From there, Adam decided to take the monorail to another area called Dang Wangi, which is in relatively close proximity to the KLCC LRT stop.

By this time, night had fallen and the rain still showed no signs of abating.

In a shot where he walks past the Petronas Twin Towers, Adam is shown pulling up his hoodie to get cover from the rain.

He admitted that he was on the verge of tears at this point.

Unfortunately, the KLCC LRT stop was also not in operation when he arrived, leaving him with no choice but to continue walking.

Student has 7% battery left after hours of walking

From KLCC, Adam trudged on to the next station of Ampang Park, which – surprise, surprise – was also shut down.

Thankfully, he was still able to hail a bus at the same station, which he then rode to a hospital less than 1km away.

Upon alighting, he was finally able to walk to his original destination, the Jelatek LRT station. This involved another 1.1km of trekking.

Having been out for the whole day, Adam’s phone was hanging by a thread with only 7% of battery life left.

Before getting on the train, he was surprised that he still had to pay the fare despite the mass closure.

Nonetheless, he was able to complete his journey at long last by walking home after getting off at Jelatek.

However, it is unclear how long the distance between the station and his home is.

Student answers FAQs after 26km video goes viral

Adam’s video has garnered nearly 450,000 views at the time of writing, thus solidifying its virality.

In a follow-up video, the student compiled frequently asked questions (FAQs) from the first video.

Responding to why he didn’t opt for e-hailing, Adam said he couldn’t afford it as the fare was S$21 (RM70) and he would’ve had to wait an hour.

Despite the gruelling distance, Adam revealed he was somewhat prepared as he has been walking regularly since he was younger.

Since the stations aren’t due to reopen for a few more days, he also shared that he will be taking the public bus to commute to classes in the meantime.

In light of the closure, Malaysia’s main bus operator Rapid Bus is adding 20 buses to transport passengers for free, New Straits Times reported.

Hope affected LRT stations reopen soon

Walking such a long distance without so much as a break would be challenging for even the most seasoned of pedestrians.

Adam’s glass-half-full attitude to the situation is truly admirable and serves as a great reminder to be grateful for a well-functioning public transport system.

Hopefully, the LRT stations can reopen soon, so that our neighbours across the Causeway can resume their daily commute.

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Featured image adapted from @adameji7 on TikTok.