President Jokowi Tests Jabodebek LRT, Here's His Reaction

JAKARTA - President Jokowi tested the Jabodebek Light Rail Transit (LRT) with the route from Harjamukti Station, Cibubur, to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) Station. And his first comment looks satisfied.

"Earlier, we tried, the train is smooth, comfortable, the speed is also good, it can be said that it is silent, very comfortable", said President Jokowi at the TMII LRT Station, Jakarta, Wednesday, June 9.

President Joko Widodo tried the LRT with the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, and other relevant officials. "This morning, I visited to see the progress of the Jabodebek LRT construction, approximately 84.7 percent of the construction progress has been completed," added the President.

According to the President, the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi (Jabodebek) LRTs are entirely carried out by SOEs. "100 percent (of the trains) are carried out by PT INKA, which will later be operated by PT KAI. So, everything is done in Indonesia, including the construction by PT Adhi Karya", said the President.

The President also assessed that experience in development is needed by SOEs to be able to expand their business. "This experience of building trains by PT INKA will be the foundation if we build the LRT, build trains for other countries. Now we have exported trains to Bangladesh, to the Philippines and we hope the LRT will also be like that", said President Jokowi.

The Jabodebek LRT Phase 1 consists of three tracks. First, the Cawang-Cibubur route is 14.8 kilometers long, which currently has 93.8 percent construction.

Second, the Cawang-Dukuh Atas route is 11 kilometers long, which currently has 84.3 percent progress and the third route is the Cawang-East Bekasi route is 18.4 kilometers long, which currently reaches 90.9 percent.

In addition to the three tracks, the Jabodebek LRT depot is also being built located in East Bekasi, with construction reaching 44.1 percent.

The Jabodebek LRT will later have 18 stations. termination. Under normal conditions, one LRT series can carry 740 passengers. In congested conditions, it can carry 1,308 passengers with a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour.

Some of the advantages of the LRT that Jokowi is trying include, among others, that the travel time can be faster than private vehicles or buses. The LRT can take the route from East Bekasi to Dukuh Atas in 45 minutes, while from Cibubur to Dukuh Atas it takes only 39 minutes.