TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Analysis: Ministry to revise regulation to cover Greater Jakarta LRT’s faulty tracks
The Transportation Ministry has confirmed that wheel wear on the Greater Jakarta LRT system, resulting in the cancellation of 103 trips daily, was caused by design flaws in the rail tracks, particularly on tight, narrow curves that do not comply with Transportation Ministry Regulation No. 60/2012.
Change Size
Officers welcomed the arrival of LRT passengers at Velodrome station, Rawamangun, Jakarta, Tuesday, 9/6/2020. LRT services are back to normal with a limitation of 30 passengers per car. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama/Adi)
T
he Transportation Ministry has confirmed that wheel wear on the Greater Jakarta LRT system, resulting in the cancellation of 103 trips daily, was caused by design flaws in the rail tracks, particularly on tight, narrow curves that do not comply with Transportation Ministry Regulation No. 60/2012. Instead of rectifying the problematic rail designs on curves, however, the ministry is currently planning to revise the regulation to accommodate the existing rail designs.
Transportation Ministry Director General for Railways Risal Wasal recently confirmed the LRT’s faulty rail-track design had caused the wheel wear. The track design on major curves is not in line with transportation Ministry Regulation No. 60/2012. According to the regulation, rail tracks on curves with a radius of less than 250 meters, traversed by the LRT, should be widened by 20 millimeters for safety. However, it appears that sharp bends on the LRT route, especially in Cawang and near Taman Mini have only been widened by about 10 mm. Consequently, each passage over these tracks results in significant friction between the wheels and rails due to the wheels getting stuck during turns.
Because of the wheel wear, at the end of October, just two months after commercial operation, state-owned railway company PT KAI as the operator of the LRT had to withdraw seven trains, out of a total of 16, for urgent wheel maintenance, leaving only nine trains in operation. With 16 trains, the Greater Jakarta LRT could operate 234 daily trips. With just nine trains remaining, the LRT could only provide 131 trips. As of last week, Greater Jakarta LRT operated only eight trains as one train had to undergo maintenance.
Instead of fixing the problem of faulty rail tracks on major curves, the Transportation Ministry is expected to amend its regulation to accommodate the existing LRT track configurations. The ministry has enlisted the services of technical consultants to provide a rationale for the discrepancies in track width within the designs.
A document titled “Rapat Evaluasi Kinerja Pengoperasian LRT Jabotabek” (Greater Jakarta LRT Operational Performance Evaluation Meeting), as obtained by Tempo, revealed that consultants did not recommend fixing the faulty rail tracks. Instead, they recommended that KAI provide new sets of wheels to suit the rail tracks, so that it would not hinder LRT operations and the LRT management to implement a speed reduction of up to 50 percent on major curves to decrease wheel-rail friction, preventing rapid wheel deterioration.
Transportation expert Agus Pambagyo, who is also a former member of the LRT Development Supervisory Commission, deplored the Transportation Ministry’s plan to amend the regulation because it could endanger the safety of future LRT developments in other cities. He noted that if the problem was the faulty rail tracks, simply tell the developer, state-owned construction company PT Adhi Karya, to fix it.
House of Representatives’ Commission VI legislator Amin Ak called on the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to conduct an investigative audit on the problems plaguing the Greater Jakarta LRT. He suspected corruption occurred in the procurement of the trains.
The problem of design errors in the LRT's track layout was previously brought to light by Deputy State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Kartika "Tiko" Wirjoatmodjo in July. However, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo dismissed Tiko’s criticism, saying that the Greater Jakarta LRT project was a national achievement, with most of the work done by local players.
What we’ve heard
A source at the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry stated that the issue of narrow tracks for the Jabodebek LRT is currently present in more than 20 points. Almost all of these points are located in the railway tracks around Halim and Cawang.
At these points, the LRT wheels experience wear and the tracks are damaged, posing a threat to passenger safety. The friction between the wheels and tracks on short curve tracks also leaves iron dust at several points, which risks triggering short circuits before several track branches.
The same source mentioned that various problems after the operation of the Jabodebek LRT were caused by Adhi Karya's mistake in reading the design criteria for the width of tracks at short curves.
According to regulations, for tracks with a width of 1435 millimeters, the tracks on curves shorter than 250 meters must be widened by 20 mm for safety. In reality, Adhi Karya only widened the tracks on short curves by a maximum of 10 mm. "The goal was to be more cost-effective," said the source.
According to this source, the design error had been well known internally since March 2018. However, all parties, including DJKA, KAI, and Adhi Karya, still agreed to a maximum track widening of 10 mm on short curves.
Reportedly, PT KAI not only re-machined the tracks but also ordered 1,000 new wheels from INKA, further increasing the operational costs of the Jabodebek LRT.
Contrary to being more cost-effective, the LRT project’s modified designs are causing the operational costs to skyrocket. The source added that Adhi Karya seemed to have washed its hands of the design error issue. All matters related to the track fixing were delegated to INKA.
In the midst of this issue, there are rumors that the Transportation Ministry intends to revise Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 60/2012 to address the main causes of the train track design errors.
Disclaimer
This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesia’s political and business landscape. Access the latest edition of Tenggara Backgrounder to read the articles listed below:
Politics
- Election integrity undermined, post-polling violence becomes more likely
- Opinion surveys offer more questions than answers
- Jokowi administration records most ministers involved in graft
- Ganjar-Mahfud’s blueprint for Indonesia’s future
Business and Economy
- Pro-Israeli goods and firms hit by MUI boycott fatwa
- Recent RI-US meetings signal stronger cooperation
- Minimum wage formula regulation drew labor opposition
