The Jakarta MRT is a rapid transit system that is currently under construction in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 10, 2013, with Phase 1 of the project between Lebak Bulus to Hotel Indonesia Roundabout to be opened to the public by August 2017.
President Widodo arrived at the MRT Senayan station at 9 a.m. local time in the company of Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan, National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Chief Sofjan Djalil, and Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Syaiful Hidayat.
It is estimated that over four million residents of the surrounding Bodetabek (Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) area commute to and from the city of Jakarta on each working day.
Transportation issues have begun to increasingly draw political attention, and it has been forecast that in the absence of a major transportation breakthrough, congestions will overwhelm the city into a complete traffic gridlock by 2020.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
