Double railway track to ease overcrowding
Double railway track to ease overcrowding
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State railway operator PT Kereta Api (KA)'s Jakarta division
revealed Sunday that it would start the development of double-
line linking Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and Serpong in
Tangerang early next year.
KA said the project was part of its efforts to help ease
overcrowded trains.
"The project has topped the priority list of the Ministry of
Transportation ... Hopefully, we can finalize the necessary
preparations this year and later proceed with the construction
early next year," the division's head, Rachmadi, told The Jakarta
Post.
Rachmadi said that the 23.9-kilometer line, which is estimated
to cost Rp 358 billion, or Rp 15 billion per kilometer, would be
wholly financed through loans from the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC).
Rachmadi said that double line would reduce passenger numbers
on the overcrowded cars using the single track, which was served
by 15 trains making 75 round trips, especially during peak hours.
"Fortunately, most plots of land to be used in the project
belong to PT KA. We only need to acquire some sections along the
route," he said.
Train commuters have long complained of overcrowded passenger
cars, with some passengers choosing to sit on the roofs, risking
death by falling or electrocution.
Others observe that peak traveling times are getting longer,
widening from two to three-hour periods to four hours -- between
6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Most cars are also overloaded with an average of 12 people a
square meter, compared to the maximum capacity of eight.
In its defence, PT KA said it only had 220 trains to cater for
more than 450,000 commuters a day.
Most trains, it said, were also in poor condition and used a
range of different systems making them prone to accidents.
Out of the 220 trains, 140 trains are from Japan, 201 are from
Belgium, while the remaining eight are from South Korea.
Rachmadi admitted building the double line would cause more
train traffic at the railway crossings and therefore would result
in worsening road congestion.
"However, we could solve that problem by constructing more
underpasses or overpasses at those crossings," he said.
The development of the double line will include the
construction of five new stations along the route.
Railway transportation director at the transportation ministry
Harris Fabilah said last week that the government had prioritized
completing the development of the Greater Jakarta railway system
by 2007.
"We hope that the rail-based public transportation system will
become the backbone of the urban transport system in the city
after 2007," Harris said.
He said currently, train passengers accounted for 20 percent
of the total trips in the Greater Jakarta area.