Construction kicked off earlier this month for a long-awaited urban railway aimed at staving off crippling traffic gridlocks. Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo presided over a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the first phase of the 15.7-kilometer mass rapid transit (MRT) line from the southern Jakarta nei
Construction kicked off earlier this month for a long-awaited urban railway aimed at staving off crippling traffic gridlocks.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo presided over a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the first phase of the 15.7-kilometer mass rapid transit (MRT) line from the southern Jakarta neighborhood of Lebak Bulus to downtown Jakarta.
"After 24 years of dreaming to have an MRT, some may even have forgotten it,' Widodo said before breaking the ground for the first foundation. "Finally, the dreams of the Jakarta residents will come true.'
Jakarta, one of the largest cities in the world without a subway, has lagged behind other Southeast Asian capitals, such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok, in public transit. It has been predicted that without a major investment in transportation, this Asian megacity with more than 9 million inhabitants would be overwhelmed by traffic jams by 2020.
The first phase includes seven elevated and six underground stations estimated to cost US$1.5 billion (46.5 billion Baht), built by two consortia of local and Japanese companies. The target date for services to begin is the end of 2016. The second phase of 8.1 kilometers northward is to be completed by 2018, two years ahead of initial target.
The project, funded through a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, has been planned since the 1980s, but its construction was hampered by political crises, red tape and funding disagreements.
The consortia include Japanese companies Shimizu , Obayashi and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction, along with Indonesian state-owned companies Wijaya Karya and Hutama Karya and private firm Jaya Konstruksi.