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of wood and had a thatched roof and
was known widely as Resident Station as
it was situated opposite the Selangor Club
near the home of the then British Resident.
It was officiated in 1886, linking KL with
Klang (known then as Pengkalan Batu).
The second station was built in 1892 on
Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (a.k.a. Foch
Avenue) in the 1890s and was named the
Sultan Street Station, linking tin mines
from Ampang to the city centre.
The Kuala Lumpur Station was
designed by then British Architectural
Assistant to the Director of Public Works,
Arthur Benison Hubback and completed
in 1910. Resident Station was demolished
and a terminal station was built in place
of Sultan Street Station as the tracks made
way for road traffic with the latter meeting
a similar fate in 1960. Part of the Ampang
line remains in use in today’s MyRapid
2001, the Kuala Lumpur Station became
less significant as a transportation hub.
The station was eventually decommis-
sioned. For a time, a hotel housed within
the building remained opened for busi-
ness. All three buildings – the KL Station,
the Railway Administration Building and
the interior of the Heritage Station Hotel
have provided dramatic backdrops for
pre-wedding photography shoots.
The Kuala Lumpur Station was
designated a heritage site in 1983 and
today, the area surrounding it has seen
an architectural transformation, with the
neighbouring former National Art Gallery
being converted into part of the opulent
Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur and nearby
Sulaiman Building recently refurbished
into a fine-looking establishment housing
the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre For
Arbitration (KLRCA).
Light Rail Transit service.
Hubback designed the Kuala Lumpur
Station and the Railway Administration
Building opposite it in the Neo-Moorish
or Mughal style, incorporating Anglo-
Asian architecture, which is prominent
in other iconic buildings in KL, such as
the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Masjid
Jamek and Old City Hall. Horseshoe and
ogee arches feature largely throughout.
Refurbishments throughout the years
saw extensions to the south wing of the
building and a frontal façade in the north
wing that sported Raj styling with more
dome-shaped pavilions (or chhatris) added
to the existing ones. The arched verandahs
of the northwing (that was converted into
an office) were sealed up with windows
when air-conditioning was introduced.
When the newly-minted Kuala Lumpur
Sentral took over interstate rail services in
Kuala Lumpur Old Railway Station
KTM Railway
Administration Building
NewMajestic Hotel