Will the new MRT system end the city's hammajang traffic?
On Sunday, March 24, Jakarta inaugurated Indonesia's first-ever mass rapid transit line after six years of construction, South China Morning Post reports. President Joko Widodo, accompanied by other government officials, led the signing ceremony.
The event was also joined by tens of thousands of Jakartans who were excited to take part in the free trial run of the MRT. The line has been offering a free trial run for the last 12 days before hosting the official ceremony. On April 1, the line will start operating commercially although the ticket fee rate hasn't been decided at the time of writing.
The first phase of Jakarta's first MRT line (solid blue) spans 13 stations. Map via Jakarta by Train.
The first line, which is 16 kilometers long, connects the area around Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta to Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta. The construction for the second line, which will link Hotel Indonesia to Kota Station in West Jakarta, was also started on Sunday and is expected to be completed in 2024.
According to Anies Baswedan, Jakarta's governor, the first line will operate with eight trains from 5:30am to 10:30pm in the first month before expanding to 16 trains running from 5:30am to 12am every day.
The construction of the MRT system is part of Indonesia's large plans for an integrated transportation system that connects the MRT, the light rail transit (LRT) system, Transjakarta bus rapid transit system and the airport train.
“If we have an integrated transportation system, it will be easier for people to go places and they will leave their cars or motorcycles at home,” president Widodo told reporters.
[Photo via The Jakarta Post]
