Ministry of Transport denies LRT Palembang is quiet, passengers increase by up to 40%

Posted On: November 11, 2022

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Ministry of Transport has denied that the Light Flyover or LRT Palembang is empty of passengers. Head of the South Sumatra Light Railway Management Center (BPKARSS) of the General Directorate of Railways, Dedik Tri Istiantara, said the occupation LRT Palembang In fact, it increased significantly after the government launched the Angkot New Oplet Musi Emas food service last June.

“Alhamdulillah, the increase in the number of passengers after the launch of this angkot feeder reached 25%,” Dedik said in his statement on Monday, October 24, 2022.

Dedik cites data from the Ministry of Transport. According to him, the average number of daily passengers increased to 9,066 passengers per day during the July-October 2022 period, from 7,239 passengers per day in January-June 2022.

Meanwhile, the increase in the number of passengers per station reached from 26% at Punti Kayu station to 40% at Hajj Dormitory station. Dedik continued, the launch of the new Oplet Musi Emas feed angkot is one of the efforts to maximize the use of the Palembang LRT which serves the local community.

Lily: Ridwan Kamil criticizes the Palembang LRT: no passengers

“It is therefore hoped that the community will find it easier to reach LRT Sumsel (Palembang) from and/or to their homes as well as continue their journey to their respective destinations,” he said.

Dedik said the community’s enthusiasm to take advantage of the Palembang LRT and connect the ride using feeder angkot has encouraged the government to expand the reach of the feeder transport service. The government, he said, will add five gradually so that later there will be seven Angkot feeder corridors that serve South Sumatra LRT passengers.

“This angkot feeder service also complements South Sumatra (Palembang) LRT intermodal integration after being previously integrated with BRT and DAMRI bus services,” Dedik said.

Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil previously criticized the Palembang LRT which was empty of passengers. During Synergy Ngopi’s discussion with Jababeka at President University, Cikarang, West Java last Friday, October 21, Ridwan Kamil said that the Rp 9 trillion project was a failed investment.

But recently he apologized to the people of Palembang after briefly criticizing the construction of the LRT in the city. “Apologies to the people of Palembang. If the Jababeka development study talking points related to the transport case studies are considered unfavorable,” he said via his Instagram account @ridwankamil, quoted on Monday 24 October 2022.

Ridwan Kamil felt that the media quotes did not show the general order of the discussion as a whole and therefore were misunderstood. He explained in the chat that there were developers or developers in Bekasi-Karawang who suddenly demanded the construction of the MRT.

Next, Ridwan Kamil answered the developer’s question that MRT is a very expensive project at Rp 1 trillion per kilometer. “No local government can afford it except DKI,” he said.

Second, he said, the population on the construction site MRT must be large so that it can be used to the maximum and the return on investment is immediate. MRT too, according to him, must be connected to the feeder and have an extended network.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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