KAI, Railink Secure $155m Loan to Connect Jakarta with Airport by 2016
Jakarta. State railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia and its subsidiary Railink have secured more than Rp 2 trillion ($155 million) in syndicated loans from four banks to finance an electric train project that will link downtown Jakarta with Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by the end of 2016.
KAI has received Rp 1.4 trillion from state lenders Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and private lender Bank Central Asia, the companies said in a statement on Monday.
Meanwhile, Railink, a joint venture between state airport operator Angkasa Pura II and KAI, obtained Rp 612 billion to expand its fleet of trains.
“With this syndicated loan, we expect to complete the Soekarno-Hatta airport train as scheduled,” KAI finance director Kurniadi Atmosasmito said on Monday.
The rail line is estimated to cost around Rp 2.5 trillion, which the joint venture plans to fund through bank loans and internal resources.
KAI will commence construction on the 12-kilometer double-track line in July this year, starting from Batu Ceper Station in Tangerang.
The track will also link the airport with existing commuter railway networks, running through Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and stopping at South Jakarta’s Manggarai Station.
The train will travel the entire route in under one hour, Railink said, and cost Rp 100,000 per trip — significantly higher than the fare of regular commuter lines traveling the same distance.
“We offer time certainty. Roads leading to Soekarno-Hatta will be severely congested in five to 10 years,” said Railink president director Heru Kuswanto.
The company operates the country’s first airport train, which connects Kualanamu International Airport in North Sumatra with the province’s capital, Medan.
The Soekarno-Hatta train will also make a stop at Sudirman Station in South Jakarta, which will be linked to the capital’s Mass Rapid Transit rail line and the TransJakarta bus service, Heru added.
Suwignyo Budiman, a director at BCA, said he hoped the train would help Soekarno-Hatta airport provide travelers with a “world-class” service by offering fast, alternative access to the capital.
Unlike its Southeast Asian neighbors Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok, Jakarta does not have a railway connecting its main airport to the capital.
The 62 million passengers to pass through Soekarno-Hatta each year — almost three times the capacity the airport was built for — have no choice but to travel via the often-congested toll road to reach the city center.
These roads are also susceptible to floods or tidal surges from the North Jakarta coast during the rainy season.
Angkasa Pura II is currently constructing a new terminal at Soekarno-Hatta that would boost capacity of the country’s busiest airport to 61 million travelers annually.
GlobeAsia
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Source: The Jakarta Globe