getting up to the surface at KXTL if
you have lots of bags is not fun.

It doesn't have to be bad... There's a bit of a secret route if you
don't want to go up the steps. Instead, when getting off a northbound
train, go to the front of the platform (past the steps), and find the
down staircase, pointing to the underground. At the bottom of this
there is then an escalator which takes you back up, all the way to the
top, to street level.