The underground section of the planned Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system will begin near Al-Azhar Mosque on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, South Jakarta, the governor says.
“The MRT will head underground in front of Al-Azhar,” Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said Tuesday.
“This is good in terms of the spatial planning.”
The underground section was initially to have started near Ratu Plaza on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.
The planned MRT is expected to link Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta.
The current version of the plan would see the 14.3-kilometer route follow Jl. Fatmawati, Jl. Cipete Raya, Jl. Haji Nawi, Blok A, Blok M, Jl. Sisingamangaraja and Senayan.
It will then head underground before finishing at Dukuh Atas.
PT MRT director Tribudi Rahardjo said aesthetics were the main consideration for the extended below-ground section, claiming elevated tramways along main streets such as Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Sisingamangaraja would be unsightly.
He added the additional 900 meters of tunnel that the new plan entailed would cost an extra US$100 million and would be discussed with the Japanese government.
Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is funding 85 percent of the project through a JP¥120 billion loan.
The remainder of the funding will come from the Indonesian government and the city administration.
“We have to discuss some technical details of the plan, including an additional loan and the training concept for operating the MRT,” Tribudi said.
The earlier design proposed 12 stations along the route — eight along the 10.5-kilometer above-ground section and 4 along the underground stretch.
Tribudi said the current design proposed seven elevated stations from Lebak Bulus to Jl. Sisingamangaraja and of five stations underground ones.
The developer claims that once constructed, the MRT will be able to carry up to 340,000 passengers a day and take 28 minutes to go from Lebak Bulus to Dukuh Atas, with an estimated four-and-a-half-minute headway at each stop.
The city expects to have it in operation by 2016.
Tribudi said his company had begun the bidding process for the civil work document, which was expected to finish by the end of this year.
“The bidding process for contractors will take nine months,” he said.
“By the end of 2011 we’ll have the winner, and construction can start in early 2012.”
Between now and June, he went on, the city could still propose changes to the design.
Fauzi said he had asked PT MRT to finish a study on two alternative designs for a sub-shelter in Lebak Bulus.
The first model is a ground-level sub-shelter while the second is an elevated one.
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