Jakarta, Jan 30 (Antara) - The Jakarta-Surabaya semi-high-speed train project, which will shorten travel time from 10 to five hours on a 700-kilometer route, is expected to start this year after the completion of its feasibility study in March.
The northern Java semi-high-speed train project involves the upgrading of existing railway lines between Jakarta and Surabaya. The governments of Japan and Indonesia had decided to finalize its pre-feasibility study last year.
Before the pre-feasibility study, the Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation, the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), and JICA of Japan had conducted a survey.
The ongoing feasibility study is expected to be finished next March, and the semi-high-speed train project, worth trillions of rupiah, will hopefully begin this year.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Monday (Jan 29) that the project was targeted to start this year, with the pending feasibility studies completed by the BPPT and JICA in March.
According to Sumadi, the government will review the budget to be reduced to a maximum of Rp90 trillion with three criteria, due to high investment value.
Sumadi stated that the financing budget of the Jakarta-Surabaya railway project jumped to more than Rp100 trillion from the initial figure of around Rp60 trillion-70 trillion. "The initial estimate of the budget was Rp60 trillion, but the current budget has risen to more than Rp100 trillion," he noted, after a meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs in Jakarta, on Monday.
Therefore, the government will review the budget and seek to reduce it to a maximum of Rp90 trillion with the three criteria.
"First, it involves national contractors; secondly, it uses domestic technology; and thirdly, it involves the use of the most optimal technology. The railway project was previously planned to be built on elevated tracks from Jakarta to Surabaya. But the elevated sections will only be built on certain parts as it is expensive," he revealed.
Sumadi explained that the financing is expected to not burden the state. The government is reviewing the concept of using private funding from a number of countries without adding to the state debt ratio.
In a press conference last year, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan explained that because of the high cost of the investment, the government had decided to put in place a funding plan that requires cooperation between the government and the business entities (KPBU), or through the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Such a plan accords with the law on railways, where train lines are state assets that should be managed by the government. Thus, the project would not be fully handled by the private sector, as the government, based on the law on railways, is required to own the railway line.
The government has estimated that the Jakarta-Surabaya semi-high-speed train project will cost Rp80 trillion. The cost was based on a preliminary study conducted by the Ministry of Transportation and the BPPT.
With a speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and powered by electricity, the semi-high-speed trains will cover the Jakarta - Surabaya route in five hours. Previous estimates indicated that the semi-high-speed train could reach a speed of 180 kilometers to 200 kilometers per hour and would shorten the travel time from Jakarta to Surabaya.
Currently, the train services take about 10 hours to travel from Jakarta to Surabaya. However, with a medium speed of 180-200 kilometers per hour, travel time between both cities could be shortened to about five hours.
Luhut elaborated that the train's electric power system would be a step forward in the use of technology, because other long distance trains continue to use diesel fuel. "For the cost, frankly, we would like to follow the detailed engineering design (DED) calculation. The cost figure released by the government of Japan is approximately Rp102 trillion. We see that the figure could still be lowered to about Rp80 trillion," he remarked.
According to Sumadi, in his meeting with Pandjaitan on Monday, the revitalization project of the Jakarta-Surabaya railway line will use narrow gauge.
The government is also planning to establish a special authority to receive and manage the funds to be realized in the project.
"Pak (Mr) Pandjaitan has pointed to the potential private funds from several countries, including Japan, which can be used without involving the State Budget Loans," he noted.
Sumadi admitted that the concept of the establishment of special authority was the idea Pandjaitan, who revealed that the concept of private loans from abroad can be used, so as to avoid burdening the state budget. Thus, the construction of infrastructure projects can still run well.
The concept has been used in a number of countries, such as the United States, for the construction of the World Trade Center (WTC). "The WTC uses authority as well, and not the government or the private sector," he concluded. ***3*** (A014/INE)EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/Suharto) 31-01-2018 00:23: |
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