Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Jakarta Bogor Depok Bekasi (Jabodebek) is planned to start operating in August 2022. President Director of PT KAI (Persero) Didiek Hartantyo has confirmed this.
“The Jabodebek LRT Commercial Operating Date (COD) will be August 2022,” said Didiek during a public discussion on the Jabodebek LRT Operational Preparation, Wednesday (19/1/2022).
He said, actually the initial plan for the operation of this LRT was last June 2019, but it was postponed to August 2022. Many factors caused its operation to be delayed by almost 2 years.
The delay in the operation of the LRT has caused investment costs to swell or cost overrun. The initial assumption in 2017, the investment value of IDR 29.9 trillion swelled to IDR 32.5 trillion.
Didiek said, “This also happened because the COD delay was caused by land acquisition problems. Thus, the Covid-19 pandemic caused an increase in costs, amounting to Rp. 2.6 trillion,” said Didiek.
Regarding the LRT trajectory, the construction progress has reached 78%. Furthermore, in January – May, a test commissioning will be carried out, then in July – August a trial run will be carried out.
Jabodebek LRT Executive Vice President (EVP), Mochamad Purnomosidi, explained that this LRT transportation could be a congestion solution in the Jabodebek area as can be seen in several toll roads and highways along with Jakarta – Cikampek, and the Jagorawi area during peak hours.
The LRT service trajectory is from Cibubur – Cawang, Cawang – Dukuh Atas, and Lintas Bekasi Timur to Cawang.
The Jabodebek LRT has 17 stations and 1 station will be connected to the Jakarta – Bandung high-speed train. Then, the length of the LRT track reaches 44 km using 31 train sets.
Ticket cost
Regarding the price of this LRT ticket, Didiek in the Public Discussion of the Jabodebek LRT Operational Preparation in Jakarta, Wednesday (19/1/2022), explained, “The basic fare was originally Rp. 12,000, now it is calculated to be Rp. 15,000,”
The increase in LRT ticket fares is the result of delays in train operations. The increase in investment value that is not covered by the clause of the syndicated loan becomes a burden for the borrower, that is PT KAI Indonesia. Moreover, during 2020-2021 PT KAI suffered losses due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
