0 Jakarta Monorail Not Sustainable, Official Insists

A senior official has questioned the sustainability of a proposed monorail line in Jakarta, arguing that other forms of mass transit have better long-term prospects. Bambang Susantono, the deputy minister of transportation, said on Wednesday that the operation and business aspects of running a monorail line needed to be considered very carefully. “The sustainability of both running such a system as well as making money from it as a means of public transportation has to be studied more deeply,” he said. 

He added it was unclear how the monorail could be anywhere near as sustainable over a long-term period as other modes of public transportation such as the TransJakarta bus network or the city’s commuter rail line. To be sustainable, Bambang argued, a system should be easily expandable and have a sound business plan. The challenge faced by proponents of the monorail, he said, was that it would be hard for them to make a convincing case that this mode of transportation could significantly help reduce the traffic congestion, not just in Jakarta but in any large city in which it was deployed. 

The deputy minister’s remarks come amid growing interest in reviving the stalled project to build a monorail line in Jakarta. Joko Widodo, the Jakarta governor, has long indicated that he wants the project to go ahead, and has included it in his medium-term development plan for the capital. On Tuesday, the private developer Jakarta Monorail revealed that it had teamed up with an investment firm, Ortus Holdings, to pump up to Rp 2.3 trillion ($238 million) into the project. Sukmawaty Syukur, the JM director, said Ortus had agreed to pay for the monorail’s abandoned infrastructure under the coordination of JM. 

It also agreed to fund completion of construction along the Semanggi-Kuningan loop line. Sukmawaty also said that Ortus was initially investing $30 million to pay for the foundations owned by Adhi Karya, a state construction company. “Ortus will then disburse an investment of Rp 2 trillion, so the total investment they will fund for the monorail development is around Rp 2.3 trillion,” she said. Currently, JM is in negotiations with Adhi Karya over the price. Previously, the business group Hadji Kalla showed interest in taking a majority stake in the monorail development. 

Sukmawaty said Hadji Kalla could still get a stake because Ortus would need other investors to help bankroll the project. She said the development could start as early as this April and would take up to two years to complete. Ticket prices will be in the range of Rp 6,000 to Rp 9,000 per trip of up to 30 kilometers, with an estimated 250,000 passengers per day. The original monorail project was halted in 2004 due to difficulties in finding investors for the venture.

source : the jakarta globe