Sumatra to Have Railway Line from Lampung to Aceh, Here's the Plan
State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) has disclosed a major plan to develop the railway network on Sumatra Island, targeted to connect Bandar Lampung to Banda Aceh. The project is part of President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to strengthen inter-regional connectivity in Sumatra, which currently remains fragmented.
PT KAI President Director Bobby Rasyidin stated that the cross-Sumatra railway network development is one of the company’s long-term priorities alongside the government. ‘Based on the President’s directive, it is to develop the network on Sumatra Island, namely how we connect Banda Aceh with Bandar Lampung,’ Bobby said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta.
Currently, the railway lines in Sumatra are not yet fully connected from the northern tip to the southern end of the island. Train operations still run in several separate segments, thus not forming a single integrated corridor. ‘If we look at the existing lines now, they are only in pieces, from Bandar Lampung to Palembang, then from Bandar Lampung to Lubuk Linggau. Then from Medan a little bit, from Padang also a little bit,’ he explained.
Based on the development roadmap presented, the initial phase will focus on connecting lines in the northern Sumatra region. The first priority is linking Banda Aceh with Besitang in North Sumatra, which has remained disconnected. ‘Our first priority is to connect Banda Aceh with Besitang, totalling around 478 km. We are currently working on the Detail Engineering Design,’ Bobby revealed.
According to the network development document, the Banda Aceh-Besitang project is part of a programme to reactivate dormant lines in Sumatra. The route includes the Banda Aceh-Sigli line spanning approximately 80 kilometres and the Sigli-Bireuen-Lhokseumawe-Besitang line of roughly 398 km, bringing the total to around 478 km.
Beyond Aceh and North Sumatra, KAI is also preparing to reactivate 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 lines 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. 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 encompasses new line construction and capacity enhancement of existing tracks, totalling approximately 313 km.
KAI estimates the construction cost for new railway lines in Sumatra at around Rp20 billion per kilometre for a single track. Meanwhile, to realise a connected railway network from Banda Aceh to Bandar Lampung, the investment requirement reaches US$25 billion, or approximately Rp350 trillion. ‘In total, the Sumatra railway network development could be around US$20 to US$25 billion, or about Rp350 trillion from end to end,’ Bobby concluded.