Prabowo Plans Lampung-Aceh Rail Link Costing Rp 350 Trillion, to Seek Non-State Budget Funding

The government is preparing funding schemes outside the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget to realise the Trans-Sumatra railway project connecting Banda Aceh to Bandar Lampung. The ambitious project is estimated to require an investment of up to US$25 billion, or around Rp 350 trillion.

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi asserted that the government cannot solely rely on the state’s fiscal capacity to finance such a large-scale project. Therefore, various funding alternatives are being prepared, ranging from private sector involvement to partnering with the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara).

“We will definitely have to innovate. Not only relying on the government budget, but we must innovate so that we can obtain funding outside the state budget, of course,” Dudy said when met at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta. The plan to build a rail line stretching from the northern to the southern tip of Sumatra Island is one of the strategic transport projects currently being reviewed by the government. Besides requiring enormous funds, the project is also projected to become the backbone of logistics connectivity in Sumatra.

Dudy stated that developing the railway network outside Java is a direct directive of President Prabowo Subianto. The government considers rail transport to be a solution for reducing logistics costs while improving the efficiency of goods distribution between regions. “We will finalise this, then immediately follow it up as part of the President’s hopes and wishes to develop more efficient railway transport, particularly outside Java,” he said.

Earlier, President Director of PT KAI (Persero), Bobby Rasyidin, said the development of the cross-Sumatra railway network is one of the company’s long-term priorities alongside the government. “Based on the direction from Mr President, we are to develop the network on Sumatra Island, specifically connecting Banda Aceh with Bandar Lampung,” Bobby said during a Hearing Meeting with Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta.

Currently, the railway line in Sumatra is not yet fully connected from the northern to the southern tip of the island. Rail operations still run in several separate segments and thus do not form a single integrated corridor. “If we look at the existing line now, it is only in fragments, from Bandar Lampung to Palembang, for instance. Then from Bandar Lampung to Lubuk Linggau. Then from Medan a little bit as well. From Padang also a little bit,” he said.

Based on the development roadmap he presented, the initial phase will focus on connecting lines in the northern Sumatra region. The first priority is to link Banda Aceh with Besitang in North Sumatra, which has remained disconnected. “Our first priority is to connect Banda Aceh with Besitang, totalling about 478 km. We are currently preparing the Detail Engineering Design for this,” Bobby revealed.

In the network development document presented, the Banda Aceh-Besitang project is part of a programme to reactivate dormant lines in Sumatra. This route includes the Banda Aceh-Sigli line spanning approximately 80 kilometres and the Sigli-Bireuen-Lhokseumawe-Besitang line spanning approximately 398 km, making a total of about 478 km.

Besides Aceh and North Sumatra, KAI is also preparing the reactivation of several old lines in West Sumatra. These include the Naras-Sungai Limau, Kayu Tanam-Padang Panjang-Bukittinggi-Limbanang, Muarakalaban-Sawahlunto, Padangpanjang-Batubalik, Batubalik-Solok, and Solok-Muarakalaban sections. The total length of track planned for reactivation in West Sumatra reaches approximately 248.5 km.

In addition to reviving old lines, KAI has also included several new line constructions already listed in the National Railway Master Plan (RIPNAS). Planned corridors include Rantau Prapat-Dumai, Duri-Pekanbaru, Pekanbaru-Rengat, Rengat-Jambi, Kertapati-Tarahan-Bakauheni, and Lubuklinggau-Bengkulu, with a total length of around 1,110 km.

To support national logistics, KAI is also preparing the development of the Tanjung Enim Baru-Tarahan II coal transport line. This project covers the construction of new tracks and capacity enhancement of existing lines, totalling approximately 313 km in length.