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LRT, HSR to be operational by mid-2023: Jokowi
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expects both the Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT) train and Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway to operate around June or July 2023.
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A rail worker places a sign on an LRT Jabodebek train car, made by state-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kerata Api (INKA). (Twitter.com/BPPT RI )
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says he expects both the Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT Jabodebek) train and the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail (HSR) to be operational by either June or July 2023.
The President told a press conference following a test ride of the LRT Jabodebek on Monday that construction on the project was 87 percent complete.
“The depot still needs to be finished and there are several small issues related to system synchronization,” Jokowi told reporters.
He added that the test ride was “comfortable, fast and smooth”, and that it took just 12 minutes to travel from Harjamukti Station in Depok, West Java, to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) Station in East Jakarta.
This would greatly cut the time needed to travel from Jakarta to its satellite cities Bogor, Depok and Bekasi.
The train used for the President’s ride test were made by state-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA), and Jokowi said he was “proud and happy” that an Indonesian company was able to produce a driverless train system.
When the service was fully operational, Jokowi expected that a train pulled by a single locomotive would carry 420 passengers, while the passenger depot would have the capacity to handle 500 commuters.
At the same event, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said he expected the Greater Jakarta LRT to have a maximum capacity of 700 passengers and a daily average of 400 trips. The service would also be integrated with a public transit system linking several different transportation modes.
Budi said the Greater Jakarta LRT, a national strategic project (PSN), would reduce congestion in both Jakarta and the three satellite cities.
“I want the trial to be smooth” because the LRT used highly advanced technology, he added, and that the system’s safety must be ensured before it became fully operational in mid-2023.
Read also: Jakarta counts on private investors to expand MRT, LRT
Also on Monday, the President inaugurated the newly revamped Manggarai Station in Central Jakarta, which had just completed phase one of its development.
In 2016, the government designated Manggarai Station as the “central hub” of the Cikarang-Manggarai double track, which expanded the service to 14 lines from 7 previously.
“The government will continue to build and develop train infrastructure,” Jokowi vowed in his opening speech.
He explained that train infrastructure projects would be prioritized starting with services connecting one heavily populated area to another through transit systems that used other public transportation, such as the Commuter Line rail service, the Greater Jakarta LRT, the Jakarta MRT, the intercity HSR and the airport train.
The President also noted that consumers were “growing more attracted” to using public trains because they could reach various areas at affordable prices.
— Editor's note: This article has been revised for accuracy.
