The Government Will Discuss Land Acquisition Around Manggarai Station Which Is Now Crowded

Conditions at Manggarai Station/DOK VOI-Riki Noviana

JAKARTA - Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency, Syafrin Liputo, said that the central and regional governments will discuss plans for land acquisition for residential areas around Manggarai Station.

This is a follow-up to the condition that Manggarai Station is increasingly crowded with passengers due to changes in the KRL Commuter Line route.

"The land acquisition will be discussed with colleagues from the Jakarta-Banten Railway Engineering Center and the DKI Provincial Government," Syafrin told reporters, Tuesday, June 7.

This land acquisition plan, said Syafrin, is a long-term step. Currently, the government is also making arrangements in the Manggarai Station area. Where, there is an integration between modes of transportation with the surrounding spatial arrangement.

"Currently we are making arrangements including the Manggarai Station area, where for this station area we are trying to integrate not only intra and only intermodal transportation there, but how the station area is also integrated with the surrounding spatial layout," said Syafrin.

Then, in the near future, the DKI Transportation Agency will also carry out traffic engineering for geometric repairs at the Manggarai Station intersection.

"There will also be additional services, of course, in line with changes in the operational pattern carried out by PT KAI later," he said.

Previously, transportation observer from the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), Djoko Setijowarno argued, the main cause of passenger density at Manggarai Station is the station's capacity.

Djoko said that the capacity of Manggarai Station with a building size of 100 square meters was not yet ready to become a Jabodetabek KRL transit center.

As a result, long queues of KRL passengers on the Bekasi/Cikarang - Jakarta Kota and Bogor/Depok - Tanah Abang/Sudirman/Angke/Duri routes who have to transit at Manggarai Station are inevitable.

"Currently, the Manggarai Station is considered to still have problems in the infrastructure of services to consumers. The government needs to solve the problem first, one of which is thinking about the capacity of the Manggarai Station," said Djoko.

Not to mention, access to Manggarai Station is inadequate, namely narrow roads and a crowded, chaotic and disorganized surrounding.

Djoko assessed that as a solution to this problem, the government needs to expand the Manggarai Station area by freeing up residential land around it. The central government needs to coordinate with the DKI Provincial Government to carry out the land acquisition.

"However, people from Bogor, Depok, Tangerang who use KRL predominantly work in Jakarta. The involvement of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government can be done by clearing land which is currently being used by many residents as residential areas around Manggarai. Coordination must be with the Ministry of Transportation, BUMN, PT KAI , DKI Jakarta Provincial Government for how to embrace the surrounding community," explained Djoko.