Government Targets Construction of 2,772 km Railway Line in Kalimantan

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government is targeting the construction of 2,772 kilometres of railway lines on Kalimantan island as an effort to strengthen connectivity and support logistics distribution in the region. Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) said the plan is still in the calculation and planning stage by the government. “The plan for building railway lines in Kalimantan is still being calculated and planned carefully,” AHY said after a coordination meeting on the development of the national railway network at the new Tanah Abang Station, Jakarta, on Wednesday. He explained that the government will form a committee involving various ministries and agencies to accommodate input and perfect the planning of the national railway network. AHY revealed that Kalimantan currently has no railway network, so the length of lines in the region is still recorded at zero kilometres. However, the Kalimantan region has great potential in natural resources, including the mineral sector, which requires adequate transportation infrastructure support. He assessed that building railway lines would open connectivity between provinces in Kalimantan, from the northern, eastern, southern, central, to western regions. “This development also has the potential to accelerate downstreaming and increase the added value of commodities,” AHY said. Nevertheless, the government has not set a construction timeline or routes to be developed because it is still in the inter-ministerial and agency discussion stage.