About one week off from the previous estimate, the city to Soekarno-Hatta Airport train is finally set to be launched in early December, depending on President Joko Widodo’s schedule.
PT Railink, the company operating the airport train, has already carried out test runs of the new trains over the past week, with Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno going on board for inspection. Though the specific date for the official launch of the service has not been set, it should happen in the first week of December.
“Madam Minister (Rini Soemarno) said we must wait for President Jokowi to inaugurate. But essentially we are ready to operate,” said PT Railink First Director Heru Kuswanto, as quoted by WartaEkonomi today.
Heru added that, pending the government’s approval, there could be a month-long promotional ticket price of IDR30,000 (US$2.22) per trip. When the promo ends, the ticket price is expected to go up to around IDR100,000 (US$7.41).
According to reports, once fully operational, the airport train will depart from Manggarai Station, making stops at Sudirman Baru, Duri and Batu Ceper before reaching the Soekarno-Hatta Train Station. However, in the first stages of its operation, the airport train will not depart or arrive at Manggarai Station for the time being until PT Railink opens the route in the near future.
There are 10 airport trains ready for operation, each of them consisting of 272 seats across their six carriages. The first departure from Sudirman Baru is set for 3:21 am each day, with each trip expected to take 55 minutes. The last departure of the day is set for 10:51 pm.
PT Railink estimates that the airport train will be able to carry 33,000 passengers daily in 124 trips.
The airport train is another boost to Soekarno-Hatta’s connectivity. In September, the airport launched the Skytrain, linking passengers between Terminals 2 and 3.
