Kulonprogo, (19/07) The construction of the Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) railway line in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY) is almost complete. The national strategic project (PSN) is now entering the trial phase before being put into operation in August 2021.

"Today we have carried out a locomotive trial and a KRD facility trial which will later be used for the YIA airport train. Thank God this trial went smoothly and there were no significant obstacles. We will evaluate the results of this trial later," said PPK Area 1 Railways Development Activities of Railways Engineering Office Class I for Central Java Region Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation, Dheky Martin,

This trial aims to determine the ability of the rail line at critical points or curves that are passed and the optimal speed of the transport train. As for this trial using a locomotive and Diesel Rail Train (KRD).

KRD is a train unit consisting of several carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines

In this test, the locomotive runs at a speed of 20-40 km per hour. Meanwhile, the KRD speed ranges from 40-60 km per hour. The two of them took turns on a 5 Km track that connects Kedundang Station with YIA Airport Station.

After this, several trials are still being carried out to ensure the feasibility of the route. It is targeted that a series of trials until the certainty of the route is suitable for use can be completed in early August 2021.

"Hopefully, in early August, we will be able to do a full test, including testing of the upstream and downstream tracks along with their telecommunication signaling," said Dheky.

"The overall progress of the construction of the YIA airport railway line has reached 96.35 percent. For tracks on the downstream route or those in the airport area, 100 percent have been completed. Meanwhile, the upstream route or around Kedundang Station towards the airport is still in the process of being worked on.” Dheky said

"For the upstream line, it is still lacking about 700 meters, or about 120 more welding points," he continued.

Dheky explained that the installation of the tracks in the upstream route would take longer than the downstream route due to problems with the oxygen raw material for welding. Because of that, his party has brought in a tool called Flash Butt Welder to speed up the installation process.

Flash Butt Welder itself is a tool used in the welding process based on electrical resistance. This device is used for joining components, where the transfer of energy is provided primarily by the heat resistance of the component parts themselves. With the Flash Butt Welding method various sizes of parts and complex shapes of metal components can be joined together, including on railroads.

"With this tool we don't need oxygen anymore, so the welding that was previously hampered can be done and this tool can complete up to 40 points in a day, hopefully in the next 3 days we can finish everything," he continued.

The construction of the 5.3 km airport railway line from Kedundang Station to Yogyakarta International Airport Station was built elevated. The investment value is IDR 1.1 trillion which is built in multi-years.