Japan to fund four-tracking in West Java

15 October 2012

INDONESIA: Work is expected to begin by the end of the month to increase capacity on a congested mixed-traffic corridor in the suburbs of Jakarta. Central to the project is the four tracking and resignalling of the current 32 route-km double-track alignment between Manggarai and Cikarang. State railway PT KAI has had proposals in place for the work for eight years, but progress has been stymied by funding and land acquisition difficulties. The Ministry of Transportation announced on October 9 that US$228m of soft loans from Japan International Co-operation Agency had been finalised to fund the construction work, and a contract with a joint venture of Sumitomo Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd was due to be signed this week. Civil works are to be managed by Mitsubishi in two phases, the first covering a 15 km section from Manggarai on the southern edge of Jakarta to Bekasi, which is currently the limit of PT KAI’s Jabotabek electrified suburban network. The remaining 17 km to Cikarang would then be four-tracked and electrified, allowing suburban services to tap into strong demand in outlying residential areas. Completion is expected by the end of 2016. In total, four work packages are included in the contract, including enhancement of overhead electrification, power supply, signalling and telecoms equipment plus remodelling work at some intermediate stations. According to Railways Minister Tandjung Inderawan, the project should enable dedicated tracks to be created to separate freight and passenger services. ‘We are currently accelerating the whole four-track project because this will help boost the economy and reduce logistics costs across Java’, he explained. The enhancement project will also deliver additional capacity to support the US$1·1bn Trans-Java double-tracking project, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Inderawan reported that work to double 425 km of single line was approximately 40% complete, with the Semarang – Surabaya section still to be treated.

Japan to fund four-tracking in West Java

15 October 2012

INDONESIA: Work is expected to begin by the end of the month to increase capacity on a congested mixed-traffic corridor in the suburbs of Jakarta. Central to the project is the four tracking and resignalling of the current 32 route-km double-track alignment between Manggarai and Cikarang. State railway PT KAI has had proposals in place for the work for eight years, but progress has been stymied by funding and land acquisition difficulties. The Ministry of Transportation announced on October 9 that US$228m of soft loans from Japan International Co-operation Agency had been finalised to fund the construction work, and a contract with a joint venture of Sumitomo Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd was due to be signed this week. Civil works are to be managed by Mitsubishi in two phases, the first covering a 15 km section from Manggarai on the southern edge of Jakarta to Bekasi, which is currently the limit of PT KAI’s Jabotabek electrified suburban network. The remaining 17 km to Cikarang would then be four-tracked and electrified, allowing suburban services to tap into strong demand in outlying residential areas. Completion is expected by the end of 2016. In total, four work packages are included in the contract, including enhancement of overhead electrification, power supply, signalling and telecoms equipment plus remodelling work at some intermediate stations. According to Railways Minister Tandjung Inderawan, the project should enable dedicated tracks to be created to separate freight and passenger services. ‘We are currently accelerating the whole four-track project because this will help boost the economy and reduce logistics costs across Java’, he explained. The enhancement project will also deliver additional capacity to support the US$1·1bn Trans-Java double-tracking project, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Inderawan reported that work to double 425 km of single line was approximately 40% complete, with the Semarang – Surabaya section still to be treated.

Qatar breaks ground on Doha metro

12 October 2012

QATAR: Groundbreaking ceremonies on October 10 marked the start of work on the key interchange station at Msheireb, which will form the hub of the Doha metro network. Qatar Rail CEO Saad Ahmed al-Muhannadi and the Managing Director of Msheireb Properties Abdulla al-Subaie joined the celebrations, along with QR’s senior programme director Peter Lynch and other local officials. The station is being built as part of Msheireb Properties’ landmark Msheireb Downtown Doha regeneration project. The Qatar Integrated Railway Project covers four metro lines in Doha, tram routes in West Bay and Lusail, a high speed line and dedicated freight railways. In August Qatar Rail signed five contracts totalling 1·48bn riyals for work on the first phase of the metro, which covers 129 route-km including the Red, Green and Gold lines. According to al-Muhannadi, Phase 1 is due to open in ‘the fourth quarter of 2019’, well ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup . Contractor HSP Enabling JV, a joint venture of HBK, Saudi Bin Laden Group, and Porr, began work began last month to prepare the alignment and construction sites before the design-and-build contractors to start work in early 2013. The core city-centre interchange at Msheireb is located at a point where the Red and Green lines will be running in parallel and intersected by the Gold line. The station concourse will be 15 m below ground, with a direct connection to the retail developments. The Red and Green line platforms will be 22 m below ground, and Gold line at a depth of about 33 m. Msheireb Properties’ Chief Officer for Design & Delivery Mohamed al-Marri said integrating the metro interchange within the sustainable MDD project would help to minimise its environmental impact, as well as connecting communities across the country more closely with the heart of the capital. According to al-Muhannadi, Phase 1 of the metro includes 60 km of twin-bore tunnelling. The Red Line will link New Doha International Airport with Qatar University via Msheireb and West Bay. The Green Line will link Msheireb to Education City and the east-west Gold line will connect Airport City North to Al Waab. Tenders for construction of the elevated sections are to be invited before the end of this year, so that contracts can be awarded in the third quarter of 2013. Contracts for the trackwork and E&M systems are to be placed in the first quarter of 2014, and the rolling stock contract will be awarded in the second quarter of 2015.

• For more about the Qatar Integrated Railway Project, read our article from the March 2012 issue of Railway Gazette International, available to subscribers in our digital archive.