Private trains to operate soon

JAKARTA (JP): The Greater Jakarta area is likely to be served by privately-owned electric trains as early as next year, Director General of Land Transportation Soejono said yesterday.

Speaking during a break in a two-day seminar being held by the organizing committee of the 1995 Indonesian Product Exhibition at the Jakarta Fairground, Soejono told journalists that seven private companies had filed proposals for joint operations of electric trains in Greater Jakarta.

Among the seven companies are PT Bintaro Serpong Damai, which proposes to operate electric trains on the Serpong-Tanah Abang- Gambir route, and PT Infiniti Indomarga, which is interested on the Tangerang-Jakarta and Jakarta-Bekasi routes.

"Bintaro has even proposed building double railway tracks from Serpong to Tanah Abang," Soejono said, adding that the government is still processing the proposals.

The joint private-public operation of trains is something new in Indonesia and there is no legislation stipulating how such a scheme would work. In particular, it is not yet known how the profits would be divided between the government, on the one hand, and private train operators on the other.

Soejono hinted, however, that the government might want 30 percent of profits. "But it depends on the results of the negotiations between the government and the investors," he added.

The joint operation of electric trains in Greater Jakarta is a lucrative business, Soejono said.

"People are now beginning to travel by commuter trains because, as you see, every day there are traffic jams in all corners of the city," Soejono said.

The director general noted that, with the operation of private electric trains next year, railway services in Greater Jakarta are expected to transport 1.6 million people each day, or 20 percent of the city's estimated eight million commuters. (rid)