Jakarta (10/3) - After one year of operation, the Ministry of Transportation, through the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA), is targeting an increase in Jogja - Solo KRL services. KRL has served passenger journeys from Yogyakarta Station to Solo Balapan Station, as far as 62.5 km. In 2022 DJKA seeks to increase the extension of the KRL service line, which will be added to Palur Station by 6.2 km. KRL Jogja - Solo, the first KRL outside the Jabodetabek area, has replaced the role of KRD Prameks, which has served the Jogja - Solo route for more than two decades. The presence of the Jogja-Solo KRL, in addition to bringing a myriad of positive impacts on improving the quality of service and mobility of the people of Yogyakarta - Solo and its surroundings, also significantly changes the behaviour and culture of the community to become more orderly and disciplined in transportation.

On occasion, the Head of the Class I Railway Engineering Center for the Central Java Region, Putu Sumarjaya, conveyed that the increase in electrification of the Jogja - Solo railway line, which had been completed by the end of 2020, received a positive response and very high enthusiasm from the community, supported by a pretty good passenger occupancy rate. "Although it was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, since it started operating, the Jogja-Solo KRL has managed to serve more than 2 million passengers. So, by looking at the community's enthusiasm, we are more optimistic about completing the work of extending the KRL service line to Palur Station this year," said Putu.

The community can experienced several benefits of KRL, including improving the quality of train services, increasing passenger capacity and carrying capacity, improving railway safety, reducing air pollution, and driving the economy. "The ongoing development on the Yogyakarta - Solo route is a concrete step for the Government to provide mass transportation services to support increasingly dynamic community movements, especially in the Solo area as part of the golden triangle in Central Java, apart from Jogja and Semarang," said Putu.

"In the Central Java region itself, especially in the Solo area and its surroundings, there are two development projects that we hope to complete in 2022. The two projects are an extension of the electrification of the railway line from Solo Balapan - Solo Jebres - Palur along 6.2 Km and the construction of the KRL Depot in Solo Jebres, which is targeted to be completed according to plan. The progress of the construction of the KRL Depot is currently at 58%, and with the presence of this depot, it will certainly improve the maintenance and service quality of KRL facilities," added Putu.

Previously, the Yogyakarta-Solo electrification project only reached Solo Balapan Station. However, in 2022, the Ministry of Transportation, through the Directorate General of Railways, will develop electrification of the line to Palur Station.

The progress of development for service extension has reached 73%. It is planned that the dynamic testing/test phase will be carried out in April-May 2022, and the KRL service line is expected to be operational in September 2022. "In addition to the extension of the electrification of the line, efforts to develop supporting infrastructure at the stations crossed by the Yogya-Solo KRL have also been carried out, namely by elevating the platform, which will make it easier for passengers to get up and down from the train. For Purwosari Station, modification of supporting infrastructure such as platform elevation has not been carried out because this station is one of the heritage stations. So far, we have only carried out a survey to further discuss the plan to modify the platform at the station." Putu concluded.

In addition to the extension of the electrification of the lines, the handling of level crossings to the improvement of integration facilities are not spared from the series of infrastructure development processes carried out by DJKA. The supporting facilities for multimodal integration that have been completed and can be used include the 630-meter Sky bridge, which was built in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation and PT. KAI connects Solo Station with Tirtonadi Terminal, Trans Jogja, which has integrated services at Yogyakarta Station, to the Solo Trans Bus (BST), which is connected to Purwosari Station. Meanwhile, facilities still in the planning stage include the addition of 2 train trips (morning and evening). The addition of the train frequency will integrate the Yogyakarta-Solo KRL service with the Purwosari-Wonogiri Perintis Train and the Adi Sumarmo International Airport Train. (PHP/JM)