JAKARTA'S LRT PROJECT EXPECTED TO BECOME OPERATIONAL IN EARLY 2019 by Fardah

Jakarta, July 27, 2017 (Antara) - Jakarta, with a population of some 10 million people, is notorious for being one of the world's most traffic-congested and populated cities.

        The government has provided several means of public transportation, such as the Trans-Jakarta bus services and commuter train KRL Jabodetabek to serve the Greater Jakarta or Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) areas.

        However, traffic jams persist, and the use of KRL Jabodetabek as well as the Trans-Jakarta bus services has become inconvenient since they are always crowded during peak hours.

        To solve the congestion problem, the authorities have been constructing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) that will connect Greater Jakarta.

        The KRL has between eight and 10 coaches that are capable of carrying up to some two thousand passengers per trip. The MRT will have up to six coaches that will be able to transport around 1,950 passengers per trip or 173 thousand passengers per day, while the LRT will have three coaches, with a maximum of 628 passengers per trip.

        At least 23 percent of the Greater Jakarta LRT has been developed as of June 2017. The system will cover three lines: Cawang-Cibubur covering 14.5 kilometers (km); Cawang-East Bekasi, 17.1 km; and Cawang-Kuningan-Dukuh Atas, 10.5 km.

        In total, the first stage of the Greater Jakarta LRT railway will stretch around 42.1 km, according to President Director of PT Adhi Karya Tbk Budi Harto.

        The Jabodebek LRT project is expected to be completed in 2018, and the LRT service to become operational, starting early 2019. 

        Currently, the government has been striving to streamline the budget for the mass transportation project.  However, efficiency will be sought without reducing passenger comfort.

        Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan claimed that the government could save Rp6 trillion by using a moving block signaling system for the LRT railway connecting Jakarta with Jabodebek.

        The figure was arrived at after a recalculation following a change in technology applied in the project, he said while speaking at the National Technology Congress held in Jakarta recently.  
   Moving block signaling is a system in which the blocks, or sections of track, are defined in real time by computers as protected zones around each train.

        "The LRT project had already been started, but we made a recalculation. We saw that the technology could be changed, and in fact, the cost could be reduced to up to Rp6 trillion," he noted.

        Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi explained that initially, the government had chosen to use a fixed block signaling system, which determines the headway, or time interval, between trains for the LRT project.

        Later, however, the government decided to apply the moving block signaling system, which would allow more trains to operate.

        With a moving block system, trains can transport more passengers as compared to a fixed block system, according to the transportation minister.

        The LRT could transport up to 750 thousand passengers per day, while with the fixed block system, it would only be able to transport 500 thousand.

        "With more passengers, as they are a dividing factor, it can be ensured that the returns on investment will be faster," he explained.

        The government has adjusted the budget allocation from Rp21.7 trillion to Rp22 trillion for the project.

        "There is a small additional cost, notably only between Rp200 and Rp300 billion," he added.

        Meanwhile, the State Asset Management Institute has allocated a total of Rp1.6 trillion to compensate for the land procured in 32 areas for the LRT in Jabodebek.

        "There are two big areas, such as in (Cibubur) scout camping round, measuring 4.5 thousand square meters, and in East Bekasi, nearly 10 hectares, for a depot and a station," Prasetyo Boeditjahjono, the railway director general of the Transportation Ministry, stated recently.

        Land procurement is concentrated in those two areas in addition to several others, Pundjung Setya Brata, operation director III of PT Adi Karya Tbk, noted.

        The location in Cibubur will be the final station. In East Bekasi, five hectares of the total 10 hectares belong to Adhi Karya, so the depot construction could be carried out immediately.

        Minister Pandjaitan has instructed that the procurement of land should be completed by this July.

        "There are 32 locations to be cleared, and it is almost completed. I want it to be completed this month," he said.

        The government has hired independent appraisers to suggest compensation for private land.

        He said the average progress of the LRT construction project in the first phase has reached 15.5 percent, comprising 31.4 percent for Cawang-Cibubur, 2.7 percent for Cawang Dukuh Atas, and 15.1 percent for Cawang-East Bekasi. 
   By the end of this year, the progress in the construction of the LRT project is expected to reach at least 60 percent.

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EDITED BY INE

(T.F001/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 27-07-2017