Train project attracts few investors

Mustaqim Adamrah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 07/04/2008 11:08 AM | City

Investors are reluctant to take part in a railway project that will connect Manggarai, South Jakarta, to Soekarno-Hatta airport despite lucrative prospects, says a government official.

Director for railway traffic and services at the Transportation Ministry, Sugiadi Waluyo, said PT Railink was the only company to express investment interest in the project, which they did Thursday.

Railink is a subsidiary of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II and state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api.

"Investors are not yet convinced of the project. They are considering many factors, including the projected number of passengers, which may be unstable," Sugiadi said Thursday.

He said he hoped more investors would be interested if the government came up with more project details.

The central government plans to build the 32.7-kilometer railway system to deal with traffic congestion and flooding on the Prof. Sedyatmo toll road, used to access the airport.

The railway construction project, worth Rp 4.6 trillion (US$498.6 million), will traverse through several main stations, like Dukuh Atas and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, as well as Muara Angke and Pluit in North Jakarta.

Sugiadi said the ministry would announce the details of the construction projects after the government, and the Jakarta and Tangerang administrations agreed on certain details of the railway construction, including repairing the deteriorating railway conditions in several parts of the two regions.

"We'll publicly open the tender after we reach an agreement," he said.

"I hope investors will be interested afterwards."

Sugiadi also said investors should not worry about the number of passengers considering 32 million people took flights from the airport last year.

The ministry's director general of trains, Wendy Aritenang Yazid, said the complexity of the railway construction was another hurdle that the construction company would face in the project.

"The construction won't be simple. The tracks will be slightly elevated from the ground," he told Bisnis Indonesia daily last week.

The ministry had planned to begin the line's operation in mid-2009, but postponed it until 2010 because of the complex elevated track system, he said.

The government has set up a committee responsible for the tender. The committee members comprise officials from the Transportation Ministry, the National Development Planning Board, the Finance Ministry and the Coordinating Ministry for the economy, said Sugiadi.

Railink, initially assigned to deal with the construction and operation of the railway project, is currently drawing the detailed engineering design of the project.

"We hope the design will be finished by the end of this month," Railink chief executive officer Masjraul Hidayat said Thursday.

"We'll also build train stations at three terminals at the airport," he said.

Masjraul said the state ministry for the environment was analyzing the environmental impact of the project. (ewd)

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