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Jakarta Post

Incomplete permits, facilities put brakes on LRT

Although the physical infrastructure is largely ready for full operation, administrative issues continue to obstruct the LRT from opening to the public

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, May 18, 2019

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Incomplete permits, facilities put brakes on LRT

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span>Although the physical infrastructure is largely ready for full operation, administrative issues continue to obstruct the LRT from opening to the public.

PT LRT Jakarta, the city-owned company that operates the service, is still waiting for the green light to begin operations from the city administration, company spokesperson Melisa Suciati said.

“While waiting for a directive we continue to perfect the whole system,” Melisa told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Governor Anies Baswedan said recently that the operator needed to complete the administrative requirements before the LRT could be opened. Requirements that need to be fulfilled include acquiring a technical recommendation from the transportation agency, a permit for the establishment of facilities and stations as well as an operational permit.

Anies, however, said LRT Jakarta had acquired a permit for road and station facilities from the Transportation Ministry’s Railway Directorate General and it had also passed the ministry’s safety assessment.

Melisa said the company had obtained permits for its human resources while the completion of the LRT’s physical infrastructure was the responsibility of city-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo.

LRT Jakarta project director Iwan Takwim said he was upbeat about the launch of the system, saying that the company was speeding up the process of acquiring the necessary permits. “We are preparing everything including the trials and tests of all systems,” Iwan told the Post.

He added that Jakpro was completing the construction of a sky bridge that connects Velodrome LRT Station to Pemuda Rawamangun Transjakarta bus stop. The sky bridge, aimed to integrate transportation modes for passengers, has reached 70 percent completion and is targeted to be fully complete by the end of this month.

“We are now rushing to integrate both services. [It means] we can also serve passengers from Dukuh Atas,” he said, adding that the operators of the two services would connect the station and shelter so that passengers would not need to exit either when continuing their journey.

After the sky bridge is complete, Iwan said the LRT will be ready to run.

The launch of the first LRT line that stretches 5.8 kilometers from Velodrome in East Jakarta to Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta has been pushed back several times for various reasons. The city administration had initially built the LRT for the 2018 Asian Games.

The City Council has set the flat fare for the LRT at Rp 5,000 (35 US cents).

Meanwhile, city-owned bus operator Transjakarta has opened a new route called JAK34, serving Rawamangun to Klender via Velodrome LRT Station, to support the LRT once it is up and running.

Transjakarta operational director Daud Joseph said the route covered 27 km.

“For the initial stage, we have prepared 11 microbuses with Komika Jaya as the operator,” Daud said on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.

The JAK34 route is also connected to Transjakarta corridor 11, which connects Kampung Melayu with Pulo Gebang. The new route also connects to the JAK26 bus route linking Duren Sawit and Rawamangun, as well as the JAK59 that travels from Rawamangun to Rawa Sengon.

“The JAK34 service between Rawamangun and Klender has 58 bus stops,” Daud said.

The first LRT line is expected to serve 76,140 passengers per day.

Jakpro has also planned the second stage that will extend the service from Velodrome to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.

In preparing for the launch, LRT Jakarta conducted public trials from Aug. 15 to Sept. 14 last year and from March 4 to 17 this year.

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