Traffic congestion in downtown Jakarta (Source: channelnewsasia.com)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Jakarta capital city is set to debutits first Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in March in the hope of easingtraffic jam.
According to the MRTJakarta company, the first phase of the MRT project is 98.6 percent complete.
When the first phasebegins operation in March, 14 trains will be used for daily services from 5 amto midnight while two others remain on standby in case of emergency. The routestretches 15.7 kilometres between Lebak Bulus on the southern outskirts and theHotel Indonesia roundabout in the downtown area.
Lebak Bulus is adensely populated residential neighbourhood. With public transport, itcurrently takes commuters around 90 minutes to travel from the southernoutskirts to the central business district where many office buildings arelocated. But with the MRT, the travel time will be an hour shorter.
Manufactured byJapanese firm Nippon Sharyo, each train can accommodate 1,950 passengers andcomes with priority seats as well as space for wheelchairs and prams. Travelspeeds vary between 80 km/h on elevated tracks and 100 km/h underground.
Investment in thefirst phase is totalled at 17 trillion rupiad (1.2 billion USD), of which 1 billionUSD is borrowed from Japan. Construction on the first line started in 2013,while work on the second will begin next month.
This year, MRT Jakartais expected to serve 65,000 passengers a day, thus helping reduce trafficcongestions in the capital city.-VNA
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Traffic congestion in downtown Jakarta (Source: channelnewsasia.com) 
