Antara News Agency quoted then transportation minister Hatta Rajasa on April 17, 2007 that the so-called airport rail link connecting Soekarno-Hatta international airport and Manggarai Station in South Jakarta would start commercial operation in late 2008. We all know, however, until the end of President SBY’s 10-year tenure in October 2014, the project was not even started.
SBY’s successor, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo wasted no time to jump start the project in 2015 with around Rp5 trillion of investment, including Rp1.7 trillion for land acquisition. In the coming days, the railway will start trial operation with scheduled commercial operation next month or early 2018.
It is not fully completed yet, pending works at Manggarai Station (integrated station connecting Jakarta and suburban areas of Bogor, Bekasi, Depok, and Tangerang). People, however, can start using the train from Sudirman Station in South Jakarta for around 45 minutes ride to the airport, where they will be transported to three terminals with the recently operated modern Automated People Mover System (APMS).
For the first time we will see Jakarta as a modern city served with reliable mass transportation. At the moment average travel time between the airport and city center is 90-120 minutes. Sudirman Station, meanwhile, will later on be connected to Jakarta mass-rapid transit (MRT), whose construction already reached 85%. Jakarta MRT is scheduled for commercial operation in the first quarter of 2019.
Commercial operation of the airport train is expected to boost financials of PT Kereta Api Indonesia, lifting prospect of financing for the greater Jakarta light-rail transit (LRT) project, where Adhi Karya (ADHI) is EPC contractor. We understand some investors are worried about ADHI’s financials due to uncertainties surrounding financing of LRT project.
This is actually not the first airport train. PT Rail Link, subsidiary of state owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia, has actually operated train services connecting Medan and Kualanamu International Airport in North Sumatra. The airport train in Medan is not as modern as the one in Jakarta, but the government has been building a dedicated elevated track in the area, which will be operational in 2019.
The airport train in Jakarta will be benchmark for similar projects being developed in West Sumatra, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and other areas. The new international airport in Kulon Progo, for example, will also be connected with train to surrounding areas of Yogyakarta and Borobudur Temple tourism area.
Jakarta is still one of the main entrance gates for foreign tourists. In the first nine months of 2017, the airport welcomed 1.9 million visits of foreign tourists, grew nearly 10% from the corresponding period last year. Yogyakarta’s crowded airport, meanwhile, welcomed 105,487 visits, jumped 32.35% from the same period last year. Kualanamu in Medan welcomed 169,332 visits, expanded 25% from the same period last year.
Public infrastructure in Jakarta is expected to improve with faster development of the greater Jakarta light-rail transit (LRT) connecting Bogor, Cibubur, Cawang, Bekasi, and Sudirman Station (Jakarta) plus inner-city LRT. It is unfortunate that development of inner-city LRT Phase II is not supported by the new leaders of Jakarta with their decision to stop capital injection into the company developing the project.
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