The Ministry Of Transportation Delays The Inauguration Of The YIA Airport Train, The Reason?

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has decided to postpone the inauguration of the airport train at Yogyakarta International Airport in early September 2021. This is because the area is still included in the status of Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) level 4. Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi explained that the inauguration will be carried out considering the spread of the pandemic, including active cases of COVID-19 in Yogyakarta.

Budi hopes that early next month the COVID-19 outbreak will be more under control and the status will decline at PPKM level 3 or 2. So, trials can be carried out. "Yogyakarta is still red (PPKM) level 4, of course it will not be comfortable if it is inaugurated. God willing, in September Yogya will be ready. level 3, our trains are more comfortable and the trial process is better," he said in a virtual lattice, Wednesday, August 18.

Budi said that the project, which had cost the state budget of up to Rp1 trillion, was eagerly awaited by the public. The reason is, this mass transportation mode can bring Yogyakarta to be increasingly known for its world-class infrastructure.

According to the Minister of Transportation Budi, the airport train will make Yogyakarta an international class tourist area. So that mass transportation modes will become a necessity that avoids congestion. "We hope that this process can be completed properly, but this is how PPKM in Yogya has decreased so that it can implement standard operating procedures (SOP). The airport will accelerate the globalization process or become global. Yogyakarta is a tourist destination," he said.

For information, the airport train line was built since December 2019 which stretches for 40.23 kilometers (km) from Tugu Station to Yogyakarta International Airport with a total of 24 trips per day.

There is also the purpose of building airport paper so that Yogyakarta has an integrated mode of transportation. The effort was also made to support Borobudur as a priority tourist destination. So that tourists are more comfortable using the airport train for recreation.