Mass Rapid Transit Service in Jakarta Will Operate from March 2019

JAKARTA, PINUS PRESS – The citizens of Jakarta will soon be able to commute with the first phase of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) service which could take them from Hotel Indonesia Station all the way to Depo Lokomotif Lebak Bulus. The construction of the MRT line is still in progress, meaning that the citizens of Indonesia’s capital have yet got the chance to commute with it. However, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan have had the chance to take a ride in a technical trial run which was held on Tuesday (6/11). Accompanying them during the run were Indonesia’s Minister of Transportation Budi Karya and the Director of PT MRT Jakarta William Sabandar.

Although the train was operated manually during the technical trial run, it will be operated automatically during its actual operation period.

The first phase of the MRT line with total distance of 16 kilometers could be traveled within 15 minutes.

The construction of the first phase of the MRT line has reached 97% out of the whole completion. The construction of the second phase of MRT line which will extend the service to Ancol is currently being discussed. It is projected to be built alongside the construction of the East-West Line which will connect Balaraja and South Tangerang starting from the end of this year.

According to Anies Baswedan, the Governor of Jakarta, the citizens of Jakarta will have the opportunity to commute with the MRT free of charge during the trial period starting from January 2019. During its official operation period, projected to start from March 2019, each passenger will be charged around 8000 to 9000 Indonesian Rupiah for a ride.

MRT Jakarta service is expected to be integrated with the existing public transportation modes in Jakarta, such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) service, airport shuttle bus, Transjakarta bus and Kopaja to reduce congestion which is prevalent for the citizens of Jakarta with its capacity of approximately 1900 passengers in one run with one train consisting of six cars.

President Joko Widodo hoped that the completion of MRT Jakarta will inspire the other cities in Indonesia to improve their public transportation modes. “The courage to start is needed indeed. Jakarta has already started (to improve its public transportation modes), followed by Palembang, then hopefully Bandung, Surabaya and Medan. Public transportation is the future of Indonesia’s transportation,” President Joko Widodo said.

Written by: Nathanael Septianto