Expert warns of high cost of subway<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A overseas expert warned on Tuesday of the price
\nthe city would have to pay for its Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or
\nsubway system, saying the project would be barely feasible.<\/p>\n
Director for International Affairs at Japan's Teito Rapid
\nTransit Authority (TRTA) Kunio Kawakami told a seminar on the
\nIndonesian railway system here that there were only a few subway
\nsystems worldwide whose operating income exceeded operating
\ncosts.<\/p>\n
\"Basically, the successful ones entered the subway business
\nmany years ago and have maintained a certain level of demand,\"
\nKawakami pointed out.<\/p>\n
This fact, he said, suggested that such businesses have long
\ngestation periods.<\/p>\n
The government has since 1992 been studying the construction
\nof an MRT system with a view to resolving traffic congestion in
\nthe capital.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Governor Sutiyoso insisted that the MRT project
\ntops his administration's list of priorities and vowed to push
\nthe project forward as soon as he received approval from
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
The TRTA is a public corporation which was established in
\n1941. It operates eight subway lines in Tokyo, with a total
\nlength of 171 kilometers and a total of 2,431 cars divided into
\neight different types.<\/p>\n
The company started the construction of the Marunouchi line,
\nthe first subway line in Tokyo, over a decade after its
\nestablishment, and this was then followed by the other lines.<\/p>\n
The company's capital was 58.1 billion yen or approximately
\nUS$5.05 billion, but it was not until 1995 that the company's
\nrevenue exceeded its expenditure.<\/p>\n
\"It is difficult to set fares at high levels because a subway
\nprovides citizens with transport as a daily necessity,\" Kawakami
\nasserted.<\/p>\n
As a result, he said, subway operators have difficulty in
\nmaintaining their businesses because of their low feasibility
\nlevels.<\/p>\n
Since its establishment, the TRTA has received government
\nsubsidies from both the national and local governments. A total
\nof 352.4 billion yen furnished through the National Subway Grant
\nSystem has been used to cover the TRTA's operating costs since
\n1961.<\/p>\n
\"The national subvention has greatly contributed to the
\noperation of the subways. But those funds should be repaid to the
\nnation in the future,\" Kawakami said.<\/p>\n
The national government, he said, plans to recover its
\ninvestment by privatizing the TRTA and offering shares in the
\ncompany to the public.<\/p>\n
Urban railroad<\/p>\n
On the sidelines of the seminar, the technology development
\nmanager of the state-owned railroad engineering company PT
\nIndustri Kereta (PT INKA) Api, Gunesti Wahyu Handiko, revealed
\nthat his company had succeeded in developing its own electric
\nurban train (KRL) named the KRL-I.<\/p>\n
He said two sets of the train's prototype, with four cars
\neach, will be launched sometime this year.<\/p>\n
\"We have been importing electric trains from Europe and Japan
\nbut now we can produce them ourselves. The important thing now is
\nhow to convince government to buy them,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
The trains, Gunesti said, are completely fabricated in
\nIndonesia, although only 60 percent of the components are locally
\nproduced.<\/p>\n
The Strategic Industries' Management Agency (PT BPIS),
\nNational Electronics Institute (LEN), PT INKA and the Bandung-
\nbased Army Industrial Center (PINDAD) were involved in the
\ndevelopment of the trains.<\/p>\n
Gunesti, however, declined to disclose the total investment
\ninvolved.<\/p>\n
\"By comparison, imported trains cost between US$3.6 million
\nand US$4.2 million per set. Ours are cheaper than that, but are
\nof equal quality,\" he asserted.<\/p>\n
PT INKA has succeeded in producing intercity trains such as
\nthe Jakarta-Surabaya Argo Bromo train which serves the East Java
\nline.<\/p>\n
State railway company PT Kereta Api (KA) operates electric
\ntrains within the Greater Jakarta area, carrying some 400,000
\ncommuters each day.<\/p>\n
However, many have been demanding more frequent departures as
\npassengers are often crammed into overloaded cars.(hdn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expert-warns-of-high-cost-of-subway-1447893297",
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