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Govt to test truck-rail logistic system in Sulawesi this year
The planned transportation system would allow trucks to board a train to connect the port and industrial areas in South Sulawesi.
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Workers carry out maintenance of locomotives at the railway station in Bandung, West Java, on April 4, 2023. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
T
he government is set to try out a new transportation system that would allow trucks to board a train connecting the port and industrial areas in South Sulawesi, with the concept named the rolling highway (Rola).
The pilot test will take place on a 108-kilometer railway connecting Rammang-Rammang Station and Garongkong Station. It involves the procurement of 20 freight-carrying trains, which the ministry aims to conclude this year.
“So, goods from factories could be directly loaded onto trucks, which would then ride on the train to the sea port. After that, the train would return to the factories carrying trucks full of raw materials or coal [as production fuel],” The Transportation Ministry’s Railway Director General Risal Wasal said on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.
Read also: Ministry pitches Bandung, Nusantara urban railway to Chinese investors
The concept has been implemented by LeShuttle (formerly Eurotunnel), a railway shuttle service between Calais in France and Folkestone in the United Kingdom. It uses different trains to transport passengers, road vehicles and freight vehicles along the undersea railway tunnel beneath the Strait of Dover.
Risal explained that the method had several benefits, such as preventing traffic jams and reducing the risk of road damage due to overcapacity trucks, as well as decreasing air pollution. On top of that, truck drivers would not lose their jobs.
The railway is expected to support industry along the Makassar-Parepare railway, such as two cement factories PT Semen Bosowa Maros and PT Semen Tonasa, as well as help transport agriculture products from farmers in South Sulawesi, according to Risal.
