Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate General of Railways (DJKA) of the Transportation Ministry is considering additional train sets for the Greater Jakarta Integrated Light Rail Transit (LRT) following high public demand for using the means of public transportation.

"The LRT is always packed and busy. In one day, we can serve up to 56,286 passengers, and we are optimistic that this number will continue to increase," the ministry's Director General of Railways, Risal Wasal, said.

According to Wasal here Tuesday, from its first day of operation on August 28 until September 8, the LRT was able to carry 471,847 passengers.

Apart from the high level of public interest, Wasal noted that the additional train sets also aimed to increase the on-time performance (OTP).

In connection with this matter, on September 5-9, the LRT's OTP achievement had reached 81.0 percent, with an average delay of only around 1.9 minutes, he revealed.

Nevertheless, Wasal also reminded operators to fix and evaluate existing problems before adding more train sets.

"Please solve the existing problems first and do it according to the standards and rules that have been set," he emphasized.

His side aimed to add more train sets to reach 16 and will gradually increase it to 27 sets. Meanwhile, currently, only 14 sets are operating.

He explained that by increasing the number of train sets to 16, the headway, or waiting time between trains, can be reduced to 7.5-15 minutes, with a travel time of 50-54 minutes.

Furthermore, Wasal noted that the LRT operational schedule would also be evaluated to accommodate inputs from the public.

"We are currently issuing recommendations regarding LRT's operational schedule. It will start from 05:00 in the morning to 20:00 in the evening to accommodate more people. Hopefully, this can be realized after increasing the number of train sets," he remarked.

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Translator: Benardy Ferdiansyah, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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