Double-track work to start in 2006

TANGERANG: The construction of a 23.9-kilometer double-track railway linking Serpong in Tangerang with Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta will start in 2006, said Tangerang Development Planning Board (Bappeda) official Deden Hidayat.

"The double-track railway will be an alternative to roads heading to Jakarta from Tangerang that are heavily congested," he said on Monday.

The Rp 1.72 trillion (US$189 million) construction will be fully overseen by state-run PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), while the regency will build a railway station in Serpong.

People living in housing complexes in Serpong and Bintaro will not have to drive their cars to their offices in Jakarta as PT KAI will also build five new stations along the railway.

"Each station will have parking lots for commuters," Deden said.

He added that the plan to build the railway had been included in the Greater Jakarta master plan on transportation. -- JP