airport to get lrt access in bali to reduce congestion

An executive of the construction firm from the project of development of a South Korea-backed light rail transit (LRT) service has said that I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport is going to go through a facelift which is going to reduce the congestion of the traffic in the area.

Nindya Karya a state owned firm signed a memorandum on Thursday, the MOU with South Korean public company Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA), and Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Corporation for the Rp 5 trillion (US$400 million) project.

The LRT total length will be 4.78 Kilometers and will have four stations having probable satellite terminals in Kuta, Bali’s tourist epicenter, and the airport, Nindya Karya acting president director Haedar A. Karim, said.

“The project is the first step to a green city and transit-oriented development in Seminyak and Kuta,” Haedar said after the MoU signing in Jakarta.

This LRT service is going to be beneficial for million of visitors who travel in and out by the airport every year. As per an estimate around 5.7 million people checked in and out of the airport gates between January and November last year. 

The construction is expected to complete in 18 months to two years as the project construction will begin three months after signing the MOU. 

Haider Said “It will look like [Jakarta’s] MRT," Haedar said, adding that it would be built 30 meters below surface level. “We will build the LRT fully underground because in [Balinese] culture, building above [15 meters] is forbidden.”

KRNA aside from LRT project has also provided $500 million for the financing of the development of the LRT serving the velodrome facility in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, to Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta.

The North Sumatra provincial administration is also in plan of building an LRT system in this year with the support of KARNA to connect the four cities of Medan, Binjai, Karo and Deli Serdang.