Airport railway to finish by 2009

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post) : A railway project to Soekarno-Hatta airport is scheduled to finish by the end of 2009, an official said.

"The design is almost done. We're now waiting for the detailed planning," the president director of PT Railing, Masdhratul Hidayat, said Friday.

PT Railing, a subsidiary of the railway company PT Kereta Api, and the airport operator PT Angkasa Pura, are managing the project. After the details are finished, PT Railing will secure funding.

"We expect the funding will be disbursed by March or April," he said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

"We can't comment on the budget needed for building the railway track as we are still calculating it," he added.

The railway track will pass several train stations, namely Manggarai, Dukuh Atas and Angke. The track will be an alternative means of public transportation to and from the airport besides buses and taxis.

"Each year, 30 million people flock to the airport. So the need for alternative transportation is also increasing," Masdhratul said.