Railway project: Welcoming a new era of rail-based transportation
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Proyek perkeretaapian: Menyambut era baru transportasi berbasis rel
26 June 2023
By: Lukas Hendra T.M
The second half of this year will set a new history for rail-based transportation in Indonesia thanks to the operation of two megaprojects, namely Jabodebek Light-Rail Transit (LRT) and Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway.
The first one is the Jabodebek LRT project that is planned to operate in less than 60 days on 18 August 2023.
The mode of transportation is expected to reduce traffic jams from East Bekasi to Dukuh Atas as well as from Cibubur Harjamukti to Cawang and Dukuh Atas.
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) President Director Didiek Hartantyo revealed that the LRT would benefit the people with a safe, secure, efficient, and affordable mode of transportation.
“All routes are opened. So, the headway from Harjamukti to Cawang is 6 minutes and the headway from Jatimulya to Cawang is 6 minutes. Later, the headway from Cawang to Dukuh Atas will be 3 minutes during peak hours,” he said on Friday (23/6).
The driverless trains made by PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) are planned to consist of 186 carriages that are part of 31 trainsets.
“Everything is ready. We will commence operation later,” he stated.
According to him, the LRT is also supported by regional governments that surround Jakarta and housing developers. Hence, he added that the people would be interested in shifting to the rail-based public transportation.
He hopes that the collaboration with the regional governments will result in feeders from housing areas to stations.
However, the tariff of the newest rail-based mode of transportation is still being studied. During the trial period that will be held from 12 July 2023 to 18 August 2023, the people will only need to pay Rp1.
Besides the LRT, in the second half of 2023, Indonesia will also operate Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway after the operational permit is issued on 1 October 2023 at the latest.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that his agency would carry out commissioning for the next two weeks.
During the commissioning process, the Transportation Ministry will determine the feasibility of the facilities and infrastructure of Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway.
“Inshallah (God willing), [the operational permit] will be issued before or on 1 October 2023 at the latest. If possible, it will be issued on 18 August 2023,” he said.
Budi explained that, during the commissioning process, there would be several tests conducted on the high-speed trainsets, such as a load test with passengers, a speed test, a simulation with several trains, a simulation with passing trains, and other tests.
He added that, from the test results on Thursday (22/3), Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway has fulfilled the safety aspect excellently with minimum vibrations. He added that it showed that the tracks of the high-speed train were constructed well.
On the other hand, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil revealed that the government would make Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway free for the people to use from August to October 2023.
“The big news is from 18 August 2023 for 90 days. Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway will be free. However, people who want to try the high-speed train must register online as the capacity is extremely limited at only 600 people,” he stated.
Moreover, Ridwan Kamil revealed that making the high-speed train free was a direction from President Joko Widodo so that the people can enjoy Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway.
Ridwan Kamil has also experienced the full speed from Halim to Padalarang, which is covered in a short time.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), I tested the speed at 354 kilometres per hour. So, it took 20 minutes to go to Padalarang. It feels smooth. It is difficult to explain,” he said.
