KAI to build station for airport commuter line

JAKARTA. State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) is planning to build a new train station on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta, for its much-anticipated airport railway project.

The airport railway is aimed at easing the severe traffic congestion near the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, by connecting the airport to Jakarta.

KAI president director Ignasius Jonan met with Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in City Hall in Central Jakarta on Tuesday to draft the permit to build the station.

“We’re building a new station so we need a permit. There are many things that KAI and the city administration need to discuss and coordinate,” Jonan told reporters after his meeting with the governor and deputy governor.

Jonan said that the new station would be located across from the Shangri-La Hotel in Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta, between Sudirman Station in Central Jakarta and Karet Station in Central Jakarta.

“Moreover, the city administration is planning to develop a new street near Teluk Betung in Central Jakarta. We must coordinate so it does not overlap,” he said.

Separately, Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency head Gamal Sinurat said it was crucial for the city administration to develop the new road, which would be located near the planned station, in order to ease traffic congestion.

“It is important that we develop the street because it would connect Jl. Sudirman to Jl. KH Mas Mansyur in Central Jakarta,” Gamal told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday.

He said that as a solution, KAI would modify its design for the station in order to adjust to the street widening.

“KAI will build the station a little bit further into the residential area so we can still widen the road. They will evacuate and demolish several illegal buildings in the process,” Gamal said.

However, the development might take a while because both the Public Works Agency and KAI must acquire the land.

Meanwhile, Ahok said that both the city administration and KAI vowed to complete the airport railway project in 2015.

“We vowed to finish next year: both the new station and the new street. It must be neat and ready to use next year,” Ahok told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that the station would be integrated with a TransJakarta bus shelter to ease commuting.

“The train station will be integrated with the existing Dukuh Atas TransJakarta bus shelter in Central Jakarta. It will ease transportation for people going to and from the airport. This will also help ease traffic congestion,” Ahok said.

The airport railway will connect Soekarno-Hatta with Manggarai Station in Central Jakarta. The train will carry up to 12 million passengers per year, with a total 128 trains operating on the entire route from Manggarai to Tangerang.

Using commuter line tracks, which were previously scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2014, the journey time from Manggarai to the airport will be 45 minutes. (Dewanti A. Wardhani)