Two MRT trains comprising 12 cars, which arrived in the country last week from Japan, have reached the Lebak Bulus depot in South Jakarta.

Two of the cars, manufactured by Japan rail company Nippon Sharyo, were shown on the track to the public on Thursday.

Painted blue, the cars are bigger than their commuter line counterparts, with 50 chairs installed in each car and the ability to accommodate 300 people.

Commuter train cars are able to hold 250 passengers.

The MRT train will run 40 kilometers per hour and leave every 10 minutes and 5 minutes during peak hours. However, ticket prices have yet to be decided.

MRT operator PT MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said the first stage of the project would be completed as scheduled in March 2019.

The first phase of the MRT route connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta will cover 15.7 km.

“We will try to conduct a trial run on the track for the cars in August and we will do a trial run without taking passengers by December,” William said during a ceremony at Lebak Bulus depot on Thursday.

The August trial will be done to assure all train equipment can work without being controlled automatically, while the December trial run aims to evaluate the MRT’s real operation, said the company’s construction director Silvia Halim.

Both trials will pass through all 13 stations along the route.

When the MRT starts serving the public in March 2019, according to Silvia, the cars will go back to the depot to undergo maintenance every day.

“It is planned that the train will operate from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. Considering the short distance from one station to another, we can only run the trains at 40 km per hour,” Silvia said, adding that each car would be installed with two CCTV cameras.

The number of passengers taking the MRT is expected to reach at least 173,000 per day.

MRT Jakarta is set to have 12 more trains whose cars will gradually be sent in July. It is expected that all of them will be received by November.

Regarding train drivers, MRT Jakarta operation and maintenance director Agung Wicaksono said the MRT trains would be automatically controlled from a control room, therefore, the train drivers would focus on observing the trips.

“They are responsible for closing the MRT doors because they are not automatic. The drivers have to observe passengers and match the travel times. Besides, should there be a signaling error, the drivers should be able to manually drive the train either to the nearest station or to the depot,” Agung said.

He added that the mechanism is similar to that of MRT trains in Japan and Malaysia.

MRT Jakarta is currently trying to receive certifications from the Transportation Ministry for its train drivers by the end of the year, while its maintenance workers have also been in the process of obtaining their certifications.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who visited the depot to monitor the project’s progress, said there would be 65 train drivers for the MRT.

Thirty-two drivers have been hired so far, five of whom are women.

“We hope this project will run well and be finished on time, as the MRT itself is not merely a mode of transportation, but also a medium to foster new habits like lining up and being on time […],” Anies said.

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