On subway project

On subway project

In his letter Subway project (Jan. 29), W. Pienandoro raises
an interesting point.

When, if ever, is the plan to build a subway from Blok M to
Kota likely to materialize? I ask this question because, although
I fully understand that its purpose is to alleviate the terrible
congestion on a major traffic artery, it seems to me that it is
the most difficult and most costly way to do so.

Tunneling is very expensive, far more so than overhead
construction, and far more time-consuming. Therefore, before it
is too late, would it not be prudent to consider an overhead
(preferably electrified) railway system?

There are plenty of construction firms with experience in
building flyovers etc., whose skills could be deployed to this
end; but few, if any, I suspect, with adequate know-how for a
major tunneling project.

Be it underground or overhead, this system is only going to
benefit a very small proportion of Jakarta's populace. Surely it
would be better to concentrate on improving the existing surface
commuter routes to and from the central business and government
office areas.

Like most other major cities worldwide, London has an
extensive underground (subway) system, that has been built up
over the past 100 years. The central area is either fully
underground or on sunken tracks below road level.

As it spreads further from the center, it becomes just sunken,
and eventually at road level. At its furthest, the system
stretches to 40 kilometers or more from the city center, and
thereby provides an indispensable commuter service to supplement
the regular railway and bus services.

But, as I said, it has taken 100 years and vast sums of money
to complete thus far, and extensions are still being made. This
description would have been much more relevant and clearer if the
map of London's underground system could be printed in this
space.

RB SAWREY-COOKSON

Jakarta