Seven companies from across five countries have partnered up with Jakarta Monorail to build Indonesia’s first monorail system, officials said on Saturday.
Jakarta Monorail and its new parent company Ortus Holdings signed an agreement with Indonesian telecommunication company Indosat, Germany’s TUV Rheinland Group, Thailand’s Bangkok Mass Transportation System, Singapore’s ST Electronics and SMRT International and China’s Changchun Railway Vehicles and China Communications Construction.
“Together we will work to build something that Jakartans have been dreaming about into a reality,” Ortus chairman Edward Soeryadjaya said at a signing ceremony in Jakarta on Saturday that was attended by Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa.
Edward said with the seven firms on board, a feasibility study would soon be conducted to determine the best construction methods for the Rp 8 trillion ($808 million) project.
Sukmawati Syukur, Jakarta Monorail’s president director, said that the company planned to build a 30-kilometer monorail line, with construction expected to start by early next year.
She added that the company needed to update the project’s earlier feasibility study, which was conducted in 2007 before the project stalled due to financing problems, and needed to review the system’s basic design before construction could commence.
“Together with our seven partners, we are convinced we can complete the construction of the monorail system in Jakarta,” she said, adding that the partners would bring much-needed expertise into the project.
She said that as a private company, Jakarta Monorail was eager to replicate the success of Bangkok’s mass transportation system, the world’s largest private-owned monorail system in the world, as well as Singapore’s mass rapid transit system, which operates one of the world’s most efficient transportation systems.
“They will be our role models,” she said.
TUV Rheinland is one of the leading providers of mechanical and electronics systems for mass transportation projects around the world while Changcun Railway is a fast-growing producer of rail-based transportation systems and operator of one of the world’s largest rail-based networks in China.
Indosat was brought in to provide the project’s communications system while ST Electronics, which has an equity stake in Jakarta Monorail, will handle its electronics.
“So we are partnering with international companies with much experience in their respective fields,” Sukmawati added.
The monorail project was championed by Joko after his installment as governor in October.
