Jakarta MRT Line Phase 2A: Upgrading Public Transport Use to 60% by 2029

Jakarta MRT Line Phase 2A with a budget of $1.4 billion, is part of the transportation master plan of Jakarta, as the government targets to increase public transportation use to 60% by 2029.

North-South MRT Line in Jakarta

Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia and is also the main financial hub of the country. It has a population of 10 million residents which is also one-third of the population of Greater Jakarta.
According to estimates over four million residents commute to and from the city every day. With this large number of human traffic, the government of Indonesia aims to increase the number of trips by public transport to 60% by 2030.

The Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (Moda Raya Terpadu Jakarta) is currently Jakarta’s only operational MRT line. The North-South MRT “Red Line” Phase 1 was inaugurated in 2019. This phase is 15.7 kilometers long and serves 13 stations, from Lebak Bulus Grab to Bundaran HI.

The Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is operated by PT MRT Jakarta.

Jakarta MRT Line Phase 2A: an Extension

The Jakarta MRT Line Phase 2A is an underground railway that extends 5.8km and runs from Bundaran HI to Kota. The extension is currently under construction with a completed rate of 33.4% as of March 2024.

The Phase 2A extension will have six stations at Thamrin, Monas, Harmoni, Sawah Besar, Mangga Besar, and Glodok.

The MRT Phase 2A will have 2 delivery dates. The Bundaran HI to Monas section is to be operational by 2027. At the same time, the latter half of the MRT heading to Kota will be operational by 2030.

The operator MRT Jakarta awarded a $289 million contract to Sojitz Corp, a Japanese company, for the rail development of the MRT Phase 2A. Through Sojitz Corp, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Construction’s Railways Strategic Business Group will be responsible for designing, and building track work on Phase 2A.

The contract will also cover the delivery, and installation of substations, power distributions, overhead contact lines, signaling, and telecommunications equipment, trackwork, and platform screen doors.

First Underground Stacked Stations in Indonesia

Phase 2A will feature Indonesia’s first underground stacked stations, Sawah Besar and Mangga Besar in central Jakarta. These two stations have a depth of 28 meters below ground level. According to Weni Maulina, Director of Construction at PT MRT Jakarta, stacked platforms and stacked tunnels are the solution to the lack of space.

The Jakarta MRT Phase 2A was initially planned to be operational by 2026, but several global issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, caused delays for the project. Its current timeline is now targetted to be operational by 2030.

“The journey of MRT Jakarta in finding contractors for the railway track and signaling works has been a long one,” the CEO of MRT Jakarta, Tuhiyat, told the media.

The North-South MRT Phase 2A has a budget of $1.4 billion. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), through a development assistance loan, funded the Phase 2A railway extension.

The Modernization of Transportation for Indonesia

The country is also prepping for the further expansion of the mass rapid system to connect Jakarta to the provinces of Banten and West Java.

The new extension, dubbed the East-West line, will span 84.1 kilometers. It will connect Banten’s Balaraja and West Java’s Cikarang, to Jakarta’s MRT line. The estimated budget for the project is $10.6 billion.

Indonesia is on top of its modernization of public transport with the bullet train “Whoosh”, which opened to the public in 2023. Boasting a maximum speed of 350 km/h, this is South-East Asia’s first high-speed rail. President incumbent Joko Widodo has deemed the “Whoosh” bullet train as the “symbol of modernization” for Indonesia.