JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - A commuter train linking Sudirman Street in Central Jakarta and Soekarno Hatta (Soetta) International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten province, is scheduled to begin operating in July 2017. The train service will be operated by PT Railink, together with its parent company, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II. The tariff for the airport train service is still being reviewed by the operator.
President Director of PT Railink Heru Kuswanto said the company is hoping to set most competitive prices in order to attract people utilizing the airport railway link. The tariff will take into account the investment to develop the railway link.
Heru said the tariff could be set low if there is support from the government. “We hope there is a way for the government to create a cheaper rate. One option is declaring the airport railway link as a PSO (public service obligation),” he said.
Heru estimates that the airport railway link can accommodate 33,000 passengers a day with a total of 124 train trips and 10 train sets with each series consisting of six carriages. However, for the operation of early July, four new series of trains or 80 trips will run from New Sudirman Station.
“About 76 percent of the 33 thousand passengers a day are expected to use the airport service in this early stage. We count on the assumption of about 50 million passengers a year, out of 70 million passengers a year,” he said.
Railink will operate commuter service from Sudirman Station to the New Soetta in July 2017. That’s because the commuter train facilities at Manggarai station is still under construction. Manggarai station is currently being built with double track.
Heru projects that the airport railway link will operate through Manggarai station starting October 2017. It takes about 54 minutes to get to the airport from the Manggarai station, carrying 274 passengers each way. (*)