City approves new monorail routes
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The city administration has approved the proposal submitted by developer PT Jakarta Monorail on some changes in the monorail routes.
"So far, we have found no problems with the proposed new routes. We will let the developer choose which one they think is best," said assistant to the city secretary for development affairs IGKG Suena at City Hall on Thursday.
Suena said that at least four new route changes were planned in the US$630 million (Rp 5.74 trillion) project.
The first change is the proposed monorail station adjacent to the Palmerah railway station instead of a station on Jl. Gerbang Pemuda in Senayan.
The change to the route will integrate the monorail and commuter trains plying the Tangerang-Jakarta route via Serpong and Bintaro residential areas.
"We will also face many technical problems if we insist on building the line passing Jl. Gerbang Pemuda," Suena said.
The developer also plans to build a monorail station adjacent to Mal Taman Anggrek on Jl. S. Parman as its last stop instead of Roxy, both in West Jakarta.
PT Jakarta Monorail director Sukmawaty Sjukur said the mall's management has offered a plot of land as a park-and-ride station.
"We will coordinate further with state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga soon on the possibility of having access to connect the last stop and the toll road," she told The Jakarta Post by phone.
With the change, the line would be built along the banks of the West Flood Canal from its depot in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
The third change is that the line will pass the Tanah Abang market instead of nearby Jl. Lontar amid strong opposition from the residents along the crowded and narrow street. Most of residents oppose the plan made by the administration to acquire their land.
Another alternative is the possibility of building the line passing the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, before turning left on Jl. Sudirman.
Previously, outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri asked the administration to reroute the monorail to avoid passing the sports complex area.
The developer is planning a two-line monorail system. The "green line" will serve a 14.8-kilometer route in the city's lucrative business districts of Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan and the "blue line" will serve a 12.2-kilometer route from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta.
The green line is expected to start operations in December 2006, while the blue line will start in early 2007.
The monorail will be capable of ferrying up to 270,000 passengers per day with fares ranging between Rp 3,500 and Rp 7,500 for a single journey.