The phase two (Ancol - HI for 2024) and three (Balaraja - Cikarang for 2026) of the MRT route expansion are underway. (Image via Warta Kota - Tribunnews.com)

Indonesia's Transportation Ministry to finish Ancol - HI routed MRT by 2024

Speaking at Vice President Palace on Wednesday, Indonesia’s Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, revealed the phase two of the expansion of mass rapid transit (MRT) with the route from Ancol to Hotel Indonesia (HI) is targeted to finish by 2024 or no later than 2025. The process had already started since December 2018.

Currently, people in Jakarta can only enjoy phase one of MRT with the route from Lebak Bulus to HI which has been operational since March 2019.

The funding for the phase 2 expansion was estimated at Rp30 trillion. It went higher by Rp10 trillion from the initial amount at Rp20 trillion as the expansion requires lengthier track lines from 8.4km to 14.6km.

Meanwhile, phase three expansion with the route from Balaraja to Cikarang is set to be finished by 2026. It is due to the still ongoing development study by the government.

Quoting message from the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, generally known as Jokowi, Agus stated that the development will be done in Japan with the involvement of Indonesian contractors; so that they may as well gain some knowledge.

The construction of the phase three route will be done simultaneously with the construction of the bullet train from Jakarta to Surabaya which will be done by 2026. With the bullet train, the distance from both cities will be reduced to only 5.5 hours. Agus claimed that land acquisition is one of the factors that make the construction lengthy.

Source: https://bit.ly/2D1GhtA