The South Sumatra Light Rail Transit ( id, Lintas Rel Terpadu Sumatera Selatan, lit. "South Sumatra Integrated Rail Line", shortened to LRT Sumatera Selatan or LRT Sumsel), colloquially known as LRT Palembang or Palembang LRT, is an operational
light rail transit system in
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
,
South Sumatra
South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The pro ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
which connects
Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport
Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Sultan Mahmud Badarudin II) is an international airport serving the city of Palembang, South Sumatra and surrounding areas. It is located in the region KM.10 Ta ...
and
Jakabaring Sport City
Jakabaring Sport City ''(sic)'', also known as Jakabaring Sports Complex ( id, Kompleks Olahraga Jakabaring) is an integrated sports facility complex in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. The complex is located 5 kilometers southeast of Palemban ...
. It is the first practical modern light rail system to operate in Indonesia.
The system is owned by Directorate General of Railways,
Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia, Government of
South Sumatra
South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The pro ...
, and Government of
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
; PT
Kereta Api Indonesia
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (English: Indonesian Railways Company, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is the sole operator of public railways in Indonesia. It is completely state-owned and pays track access charges to the government. ...
was appointed to operate the system.
Starting construction in 2015, the project was built to facilitate the
2018 Asian Games
The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...
and was completed in mid-2018, just a few months before the event. Costing
Rp 10.9 trillion for construction, the system utilizes trains made by local manufacturer
PT INKA
PT Industri Kereta Api (Persero), abbreviated as INKA, is a state owned rolling stock manufacturer.
Profile
INKA Ltd was established in 1981 to serve as the national rail locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer for the Indonesian Railway ...
. The system's only line has a total of 13 stations, fully grade-separated by viaduct.
Construction and costs
By 2012, the provincial government already had plans for a transit system in the city, signing a
MoU with investors to construct a
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...
system connecting the
city's airport and
Jakabaring Sport City
Jakabaring Sport City ''(sic)'', also known as Jakabaring Sports Complex ( id, Kompleks Olahraga Jakabaring) is an integrated sports facility complex in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. The complex is located 5 kilometers southeast of Palemban ...
. However, the monorail project was replaced by a higher capacity
light rail transit (LRT) line in 2015 since Governor of South Sumatra
Alex Noerdin
Alex Noerdin (born 9 September 1950) is a former Governor of South Sumatra between 2008 and 2018.
He was born in Palembang, South Sumatra on 9 September 1950. He served as regent in Banyuasin for 2 consecutive terms (2001–2006 and 2007–201 ...
thought that LRT is more effective in reducing traffic congestion.
Because Palembang was chosen to host the
2018 Asian Games
The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...
, the project was pushed to be completed before the event was scheduled to begin. Groundbreaking for the project occurred in November 2015, with state-owned company
Waskita Karya being appointed as the primary contractor following the issuance of Presidential Regulation 116 of 2015 on Acceleration of Railway Train Operation in South Sumatera Province.
The contract, which was signed in February 2017, was initially valued at Rp 12.5 trillion.
Construction was scheduled for completion in February 2018, with commercial service beginning in May 2018. However, the completion date was moved to June 2018 with operations beginning in July, only one month before the Asian Games.
![Palembang LRT, June 2017 (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Palembang_LRT%2C_June_2017_%283%29.jpg)
A test run was done on 22 May 2018. It was later inaugurated by President
Joko Widodo
Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...
on 15 July 2018.
Operations for the LRT started on 1 August, several days before the
Jakarta LRT
The Jakarta Light Rail Transit (Jakarta LRT) ( id, Lintas Rel Terpadu Jakarta, lit. "Jakarta Integrated Rail Line") is one of the light rail systems in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. It is being implemented by the Jakarta provincial ...
began running, making it the first operational LRT system in the country.
The final value of the contract was Rp 10.9 trillion (US$755 million).
The reduction in cost was due to a review by supervising consultants from
SMEC International.
Close to the start of the event, the trains often encountered operational issues. Waskita initially paid for the construction, with the government reimbursing the fees over a four-year period.
Prominent opposition figure and
Gerindra
The Gerindra Party (acronym for , ) is a political party in Indonesia. Formed in 2008, Gerindra serves as the political vehicle of former general Prabowo Subianto. It is presently the third-largest party in the House of Representatives, where it ...
leader
Prabowo Subianto
Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...
criticized the cost of construction, claiming that typical LRT lines worldwide cost US$8 million/km to construct while the Palembang LRT cost US$24 million/km.
As a comparison, the
Sheppard East LRT
The Sheppard East LRT was a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first announced as part of the Transit City proposal in 2007. The Sheppard East LRT as proposed was to be long, travel along Sheppard Avenue from Don Mill ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
cost US$56.7 million/km. The Palembang LRT project leader compared the higher cost to other projects in neighboring countries: the
Kelana Jaya line
The LRT Kelana Jaya Line is a medium-capacity light rapid transit (LRT) line and the first fully automated and driverless rail system in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. It forms a part of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System in and around ...
(US$65.52 million/km) and the
Manila Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension (US$74.6 million/km).
Infrastructure
Rolling stock
As of August 2018, the service operates eight sets of trains delivered in April 2018, each with 3 carriages for a total of 24 carriages. Weighing 88 tons per carriage, a full train has a total capacity of 722 passengers, 231 in the first and third carriages, with the remaining 260 in the center carriage. Of this, the seating capacity is 78.
The electrical trains operate on 750 V DC voltage. Individual carriages, made from
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
, have a roof height of 3,700 mm and a floor height of 1,025 mm. The gap between
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s is 11,500 mm, with the total length of the current trains (3 carriages) at . The trains are assembled by
PT INKA
PT Industri Kereta Api (Persero), abbreviated as INKA, is a state owned rolling stock manufacturer.
Profile
INKA Ltd was established in 1981 to serve as the national rail locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer for the Indonesian Railway ...
, with around half of the components manufactured locally.
Stations
The only line of the system serves 13 stations, all elevated. Six stations were initially opened to public in August 2018, with the rest gradually opening in the following months.
Track
The train uses a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
ballastless, elevated track. The signalling for the track uses
fixed-block signalling. Stretching between the airport in the northwest and train depot in the southeast, the track is supported by 9 electrical substations and a
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
.
After passing
Ampera station, the train crosses the
Musi River next to the
Ampera Bridge
Ampera Bridge ( id, Jembatan Ampera, for andate of People's Suffering a now-rarely used colloquial name for the preamble of the Constitution of Indonesia), formerly Bung Karno Bridge ( id, Jembatan Bung Karno, after President Sukarno) between i ...
.
Operation
The train runs from 05:05 am to 08:43 pm, with 94 trips per day and a headway of 17 minutes.
A full trip of the only line takes up to 49 minutes. In each station, the trains have a transit time of approximately 1 minute, except for the two terminuses at the depot and airport, where they stop for 10 minutes.
Fares
The fare separates passengers riding to and from the airport and those who do not, with the former paying a higher fare of Rp10,000 while the latter paying Rp5,000. Students can apply for unlimited-ride transit passes with the low price of Rp25,000/month. The fares are subsidized by the central government, which spent Rp120–180 billion annually to cover the operating cost of the system.
Ridership
The government targets a daily ridership of 96,000 with an increased figure of 110,000 by 2030. Between July 2018 and February 2019, around 1 million passengers travelled on the LRT. In November 2019, the operating company reported around 6,000 daily riders on weekdays and 10,000 on weekends, and that by October 2019 3 million trips had been completed. Daily ridership declined sharply in 2020 and 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
However, by the first half of 2022, daily ridership had risen to exceed the pre-pandemic number.
Notes
References
{{Rapid transit in Asia
Airport rail links in Indonesia
Rapid transit in Indonesia
Light rail in Indonesia
Railway lines opened in 2018
2018 establishments in Indonesia
Palembang
Transport in South Sumatra