Operations start on the North-South Line of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit system, Indonesia’s first subway line

On April 1, 2019, PT Mass Rapid Transit Jakarta, a company owned by DKI Jakarta (Special Regional Government of Jakarta) started operations of the North-South Line of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit system (15.7 km), Indonesia’s first subway line. The consortium comprising of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui"), Toyo Engineering Corporation ("TOYO"), Kobe Steel, Ltd. ("KOBELCO"), and PT. Inti Karya Persada Tehnik ("IKPT") was awarded the contract for the line.

On March 24, an opening ceremony was held ahead of the start of operations on April 1. The ceremony was attended by Indonesian president Joko Widodo and the sense of expectation among the public was palpable.

This project aims to mitigate the severe traffic congestion in Jakarta that has accompanied Indonesia’s recent, rapid economic growth, as well as provide key infrastructure that will improve the investment environment. President Widodo has been actively supporting the development of the project, which is supported by the Japanese government with an ODA loan under Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP). There are also future plans to further extend the project and construct a new East-West Line.

Mitsui took the role of consortium leader for this project, and TOYO was responsible for project management and designing and supplying the substation system, power distribution system, overhead contact system, trackwork, escalators and elevators. KOBELCO was responsible for system integration and designing and supplying the signaling and communications system, automatic fare collection system, and platform screen doors, and IKPT was responsible for the installation of all the systems and the supply of some of the equipment.

This project will contribute to the further economic growth of Indonesia through the introduction of advanced Japanese railway technology.

Southern Jakarta (Lebak Bulus) – Central Jakarta (Bundaran Hotel Indonesia)