MRT Director Reveals Challenges for Phase 2 Project: Narrow Areas and Cultural Heritage Sites

JAKARTA - The President Director of PT MRT Jakarta (Perseroda), Tuhiyat, has revealed several challenges in developing the Jakarta MRT Phase 2A project along the Bundaran HI-Kota route.

Tuhiyat stated that the construction in Phase 2 differs from Phase 1.

One of them is due to the road areas from Harmoni to Kota being quite narrow.

“The area we are facing and building from Harmoni to Kota is relatively narrow, not always wide,” said Tuhiyat, after inspecting the MRT Phase 2 project in the Harmoni area, Jakarta, on Tuesday (12/5/2026).

“As a consequence, starting from Harmoni, the tunnel which was previously side-by-side becomes top-bottom. This is what we call a stack tunnel. Therefore, its depth becomes deeper. Normally 17-18 metres, this becomes 28 metres below because it’s top-bottom,” he explained.

Another challenge is the soil structure, which is considered somewhat soft.

Therefore, soil improvement or ground enhancement is required in the construction process of this project.

In addition, there is also a challenge related to the existence of underground cultural heritage sites.

Tuhiyat stated that the overall construction progress of MRT Phase 2 has reached 60% as of the end of April.

Meanwhile, the progress for Phase 2 from Bundaran HI to Harmoni is already at 92.5%.

“Hopefully by the end of this year, it will approach 100% for Bundaran HI to Harmoni,” he said.

He targets that the route from Bundaran HI to Monas can begin operating by the end of 2027.

He targets that the MRT Phase 2 from Bundaran HI to Kota can be operational in 2029.

“Then two years after the operation of Bundaran HI-Monas, it will continue to Bundaran HI to Kota,” he stated.