REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MADIUN -- State-owned railway manufacturer PT INKA said construction of the passenger train for the Soekarno Hatta airport railway has been 70 percent completed. "So far work has been 70 percent completed and it would be ready by the time it is to be launched," Finance Director of PT INKA Mohammad Nur Sodiq said after a meeting with visiting Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi at the factory of the company here on Friday.
He said the passenger train is ordered by the state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), adding it will have 10 train sets. The train is to be delivered in mid March 2017, he said, adding he was optimistic INKA could finish building the train on time.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited railway connecting Manggarai Station in Central Jakarta to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, is to be operational this year.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said the government had invested Rp2.5 trillion (US$177.4 million) in the project, which started in 2015. "This is a solution for the chronic city-to-airport traffic congestion," Jokowi said when inspecting the 30-km railway project.
According to Jokowi, people will be able to travel between Manggarai and Soekarno-Hatta in 40 minutes with the new railway, which in turn will ease traffic congestion from the city to the airport. Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi lauded PT INKA saying he was proud with the performance of the company.
"I am confident that if the steps, which have been taken are successful PT INKA could become a leader in the industry as China is the only rival in Asia," the minister said.
The prospects are still good for mass transport industry not only in Indonesia, but also in the world. During his visit to INKA, the minister also inspected "Light Rail Transit" (LRT) which is built for the transport of athletes of Asian Games in Palembang. Delivery of the LRT train would take place in 2018 before the opening of the games in Palembang that year.
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