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Inka to build engine-less trains
The country's rail industry looks set to develop in the coming year with an engine-less medium-speed train in the works at PT Industry Kereta Api and the recent inking of a multibillion-dollar railway project with Japan.
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A train car manufactured by state-owned company PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) is lifted onto a cargo vessel at Tanjung Perak Port in this file photograph for transporting to Bangladesh . (thejakartapost.com/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
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tate-owned train manufacturer PT Industry Kereta Api (PT Inka) has said the company is ready to manufacture engine-less trains that can run up to 160 kilometers per hour along the planned medium-speed train (MST) railway from Jakarta to Surabaya.
PT Inka corporate secretary I Ketut Astika said the train would have a driver's compartment at each end, but no engine car.
The company had the capacity to manufacture both diesel-powered and electric trains, Ketut said on Tuesday in Surakarta, Central Java, as quoted by kompas.com.
He said Inka had nearly completed the conceptual design for the train, which would be adjusted to meet the specifications of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI).
“In principal, we already have the bogie [wheel truck] for a train that runs 160 kilometers per hour,” he said, adding that the body of the MST would be aerodynamic to support faster speeds.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government had accepted the Japanese government's proposal on a 748-kilometer railway project with an estimated Rp 60 trillion (US$4.25 billion) in total investment.
Kalla expressed the hope that construction on the project would start in early 2019. “We [Indonesia and Japan] only needs to establish a joint team of experts to [calculate] the funds needed for the project,” Kalla said as quoted by kontan.co.id.
The project is to be financed primarily through a soft loan from the Japanese government that carries a 40-year tenor, 10-year grace period and 0.5 percent interest. (bbn)
