T

he Transportation Ministry is postponing the tender process for the long-awaited Jakarta airport express train, as the project'€™s redesigning stage is yet to be completed.

Under the new design, the first phase of the construction will connect the busy Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang, Greater Jakarta, and either Manggarai or Gambir train station, a top official has said. The initial plan was to connect Soekarno-Hatta airport and Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta.

'€œAfter the first stage of construction is completed, we will examine the public demand, and will later decide whether we should continue the track to Halim or not,'€ said the Transportation Ministry'€™s railway transportation director general Hermanto Dwiatmoko.

The project, which will provide a rail link to the busy Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, is just one of the public-private partnership (PPP) priority projects that are due to be put out to tender this year.

Rp 24 trillion (US$1.8 billion) has been assigned for the project, which was expected to begin construction this year and commence operations in 2019.

'€œThe redesigning process will take up to one year, so it is impossible to begin the tender process in the second semester of this year,'€ Hermanto said.

The government is also accelerating the construction of a double track rail line connecting Manggarai and Soekarno-Hatta by using the commuter line tracks, which will be completed by the end of next year to complement the express train.

'€œIn addition to the commuter line, the city administration is also planning to construct light rail transit (LRT). We may have to reconsider the plan to extend the track to Halim if the LRT development plan continues,'€ Hermanto added.

The city administration is slated to develop seven lines, with the main depot located in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

The lines will be Kebayoran Lama-Kelapa Gading at 21.6 kilometers long, Tanah Abang-Pulo Mas (17.6 km), Pesing-Soekarno-Hatta airport (18.5 km), Joglo-Tanah Abang (11 km), Puri Kembangan-Tanah Abang (9.3 km), Pesing-Kelapa Gading (20.7 km) and Cempaka Putih-Ancol (10 km).

Plans of the 33.68-kilometer long express train had included stations in Halim Perdanakusuma in East Jakarta, Manggarai in South Jakarta, Dukuh Atas and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, Pluit in North Jakarta on to the airport.

The Transportation Ministry predicts that the express train will cater to around 20 to 25 percent of flight passengers, which will ease traffic congestion on toll roads to the country'€™s busiest airport.

The train tickets will be priced at between Rp 100,000 (US$7.5) to Rp 150,000 per passenger, according to Hermanto. The express train will cut the average traveling time to the airport, with the journey from Halim to Soekarno-Hatta estimated to take around 30 minutes.

The express train stations have been planned to be built in the airport'€™s second and third terminals, and would be integrated with the airport'€™s automated people mover system (APM) between terminals.