Surakarta (9/3) The Semarang Class I Railway Engineering Center (BTP Semarang), Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation successfully finished the construction of the KRL Maintenance Depot. The depot, located in Jebres, Surakarta, has an area of nearly 8500 m2 (8149.85). As the leading mass transportation system in the Central Java and Yogyakarta regions, KRL facilities certainly require maintenance support to maintain service quality with minimal disruption. 

Putu Sumarjaya, Head of BTP Semarang, said that the construction of the Jebres KRL Depot is one of the work scopes  of the Solo Balapan - Solo Jebres - Palur electrification (2020-2022). "The electrification of Solo Balapan - Solo Jebres - Palur is a continuation of the electrification of Yogyakarta - Solo Balapan (2019-2021), in March 2021, this urban rail transportation connectivity was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia. The interest of the Yogya and Surakarta communities is very good, when there are travel restrictions, this connectivity can carry 1,7 million passengers. 

"In 2022, the pandemic began to subside, the number of passengers increased significantly, to almost 4,4 million passengers. From the start of operations in 2021 until the end of February 2023, the total passenger transportation was 6,9 million," Putu said. "The daily average KRL load factor is close to 68%, or 12 thousand people/day. Last Lebaran peak load factor was 109%, 26 thousand passengers a day.With 24 thousand passengers and a 97,7% peak load factor at New Years Eve (Nataru) indicated that the service has already been expanded to Palur, he added.

Putu added that along with the increased operational frequency, KRL facilities are absolutely maintained for reliability, this is achieved by building a qualified depot for maintenance activities. "The last 2 years of stabling and KRL maintenance were carried out in the Solo Balapan Station and Klaten Station areas, after the Depot officially operates daily, monthly, annual maintenance to wash KRL facilities can be done here. It is expected that with the increased transport capacity, people can still be comfortable, safely utilizing the KRL mode at an affordable rate,".

Furthermore, the PPK of Development Activity 3, Albertus Dito, explained that the construction of the KRL Depot is parallel to the work of the Solo Balapan-Solo Jebres Substation and Upstream Electricity (LAA) and the arrangement of the Solo Jebres track layout, a total investment of IDR349.500.000.000.000,- sourced from SBSN (State Sharia Securities).  "At the end of 2020 we started construction, with completion in December 2022. The track, depot building, LAA, signaling have all been tested first, and the safety assessment has also guaranteed that all infrastructure is operationally feasible," he explained.

For information, the depot section has line 6 for train washing, line 7 (capacity of 13 trains) and line 8 (capacity of 14 trains) for maintenance. In accordance with Minister of Transportation Regulation Number 18/2019 concerning Standards for Places and Equipment for Maintenance of Railway Facilities, the Depot Area consists of a facility building as the main area for KRL maintenance, an office building for administrative activities, equipment rooms, and spare parts storage. There are also buildings for rest rooms, health service rooms, worship areas, and clean water treatment plants.

There are platforms, underpasses (lower side maintenance of trains), platforms (upper side maintenance) and workshop areas. In addition to the construction of the KRL Depot, BTP Semarang also procures KRL maintenance equipment, including component lifting equipment, transport aircraft, and facility lifting equipment. For example, a lifting jack (train body lifting function), overhead crane (2x7,5 tons and 1x3 tons). 

"We are very grateful that the community can directly benefit from the development of this urban train connectivity. The government wants people to have easier access to mass public transportation. Brambanan, Srowot, Ceper, Delanggu, Gawok stations are revitalized, allowing passengers to get on and off. By adding services in Jebres and Palur, more people are served by KRL connectivity, and there is also a maintenance depot. Complete, reliable facilities and infrastructure," Putu concluded. (humasbtpsemarang)