KL Sentral is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, its main function being a travel hub where all modes of public transportation makes its way to. It is host to all the train lines as well, including the Putra LRT, Star LRT, KTM Komuter, KTM Intercity, KLIA Transit and KLIA Express.

Other than the train lines, there are many private as well as public busses which cater to KL Sentral whereby visitors can easily get a bus or cab intercity or to some of the best holiday spots in Malaysia.

Catering mainly to visitors, KL Sentral also has check-in facilities for ease of travelling both domestically and internationally. Also catering to visitors are a wide variety of eateries and gift shops within the rather large station, where tourists may obtain last minute gifts.

In 2006, KL Sentral was the first place in Malaysia to be awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status which allowed for KL Sentral to host ICT businesses and MSC-status companies. As such, located just outside the station are a variety of office towers, hotels and condominiums as well, with the hotels catering to overnight travellers.

Due to the nature of its location, the traffic conditions surrounding KL Sentral is constantly congested at most times of day; especially during peak hours. Not just are the traffic conditions heavy during peak hours, the human traffic is also quite impressive during rush hours as an immense number of people will converge within this station to get onto their desired train.