Tuesday 14 May 2019

Indonesian Railway Update in 2019

Set Ts11 of the MRTJ in Jakarta, Indonesia (Photo: Faris Fadhli)

I have received news from an Indonesian rail fan. My thanks go to Faris Fadhli, who kindly sent me the recent photos.

The first photo: The first Indonesian subway line was opened in Jakarta on March 24th. It is the North-south line of Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (MRTJ). Connecting Bundaran H.I. in the downtown area and Lebak Bulus in the southern suburb, the operating length is 15.5 kilometers. The track is double. The gauge size is 1,067 mm. The electric system is 1,500 V DC overhead. The train control system is CBCT provided by Nippon Signal. The rolling stock was imported from Japan. A total of 16 sets, 96 units, were built by Nippon Sharyo. The car numbers are K1 18 07 to K1 18 96 according to the Indonesian Railway Act. The electric control system of the trains is IGBT-VVVF (variable frequency drive). 

The second photo: I am going to show you the current appearance of the 8618F of the EMU ex-Tokyu 8500 series. 8618F was operated on the Tokyu line in Japan from 1976 to 2008. After retirement from Tokyu, 8618F was then moved to Jakarta to spend its second life. It was a 10-car train in Japan, but it currently grew longer... 12 cars in Jakarta. The body stripes were also changed to red and yellow, which are the standard color of the local train operator, Kereta Commuter Indonesia. The second life is more busy than that of the Tokyu era.

8618F of the EMU KCI 8500 series (ex-Tokyu 8500 series) arrives at Depok station
(Photo: Faris Fadhli)