“The medium-speed Jakarta-Surabaya railway is to use the existing tracts,” Budi said after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the latter’s office in Jakarta on Wednesday to discuss the project.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono also attended the meeting.

Previously, the ministry’s railway traffic director, Zulmafendi, had said that the project would use new tracks on land owned by state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and run parallel to the existing tracks in the northern coastal areas of Java.

Budi said that using the existing tracks would not only speed up the construction process, but it would also help the government resolve the problem of about 500 to 800 railway crossings along the way, which contributed to traffic congestion in many cities.

He said the government planned to construct either underpasses or overpasses. “It will help many cities solve traffic jams and reduce traffic accidents,” he said, as reported by tempo.co on Thursday.

Budi expressed his hope that the speed of new trains would exceed 160 kilometers per hour from currently 90 km/h.

He added that using the existing tracks would also help cut the construction cost to about Rp 50 trillion (US$3.75 billion) from the previous estimate of Rp 80 trillion. (bbn)

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