Indonesian Government Tenders Soekarno-Hatta Airport Train Project

Currently, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which was ranked the world’s 8th busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers (year 2013), is only accessible by motorized vehicle (such as cars or bus transportation). However, due to the continuously rising number of passengers at the airport in combination with the lack of infrastructure development, traffic to Soekarno-Hatta has become congested.

In 2013, Soekarno-Hatta handled a total of 62.1 million passengers, a 3.7 percentage point growth from the previous year (60 million). In February 2014 it was reported that the airport operates 1,200 daily flights for 44 foreign airlines and 19 domestic ones. However, due to Indonesia’s rapidly expanding aviation sector (supported by rising per capita GDP), the government expects that the total number of passengers that pass through Soekarno-Hatta will have increased to 80 million per year by 2019 or 2020. In fact, the airport is currently undergoing a large renovation as it had been operating at overcapacity in recent years. Terminals I and II are being renovated to enlarge passenger capacity to 18 and 19 million people respectively (from nine million each, now). Terminal III will be able to handle 25 million passengers after renovations have finished in 2015 (from currently four million). Meanwhile, flight capacity is being expanded from 64 flights per hour in 2013 to 72 flights per hour this year and to 85 flights per hour in 2015.

With air passengers rising rapidly, infrastructure around the Soekarno-Hatta airport should be improved as well. The government aims to start the railway project in 2015 and expects it to be operational by 2019. At a number of locations, for example around the airport and in Cawang (East Jakarta), the railway will be built below the ground as an elevated railway structure is considered impossible at those locations. This will increase costs as the development of an underground railway structure requires about IDR 1 trillion (USD $85.5 million) per kilometre, while an elevated structure costs about IDR 300 billion (USD $25.6 million) per kilometre.

The train is estimated to reach a pace of 135 km per hour and will serve five stations in Jakarta (Halim, Manggarai, Dukuh Atas, Tanah Abang and Pluit) as well as terminals I and II at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Total traveling time from Halim (starting point) to the airport is estimated at 30 minutes, a marked improvement from current journeys with motorized vehicles (which can take up to two or three hours). The government expects that about 20 percent of total number of air passengers at Soekarno-Hatta will use the train service (which would have been around 12 million train passengers if the service had been available in 2013). An indication of tariffs for the train tickets has not been given yet but the government said ticket prices should be at a competitive price. Currently, a taxi drive from the centre of Jakarta to the airport costs approximately IDR 120,000 (USD $10.3), while a one-way bus service (Damri Bandara) costs IDR 30,000 (USD $2.56).

Commuter Line Tangerang-Soekarno Hatta Airport

Another project, a double-track commuter line between the city of Tangerang (Banten) and Soekarno-Hatta Airport, is also being developed (by state-owned companies Railink and Angkasa Pura II). The land acquisition process for this project is expected to be completed in August 2014. The project is planned to be fully finished by end-2015.

For more information about the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Train Project Tender, contact us here

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