BOYOLALI – Adi Soemarmo Airport Train in Surakarta has started operating on Sunday, 29 December. The operation of the Adi Soemarmo Airport Train was marked by the soft launching of the Adi Soemarmo Airport Rail Link by the Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia Budi Karya Sumadi.
The event was also attended by Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, Angkasa Pura Airports President Director Faik Fahmi and state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia President Director Edi Sukmoro.
In the initial stage, the train route connects Adi Soemarmo International Airport to Solo Balapan station (round trip) with a distance of 12.9 km and an average travel time of 20 minutes. In the future, two additional routes will also be opened which is route from Adi Soemarmo International Airport to Yogyakarta and Kutoarjo.
After the operation on Sunday, Adi Soemarmo Airport Train is free of charge until February 2020. Official ticket price will be announced later.
Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the operation of the airport train created a good integrated intermodal transportation to support Borobudur Temple as one of the five 'New Bali' or super-priority tourist destinations.
In addition, Budi said he had created a 'ring' or the circle of railroad tracks that surround the cities of Cirebon, Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang.
"In the future, residents of Wonogiri, Madiun can also take train at Solo Balapan Station to Adi Soemarmo International Airport and vice versa, or from Solo Balapan Station you can take a bus at Tirtonadi bus terminal which is directly connected to Solo Balapan. In addition, foreign tourists can get off at Adi Soemarmo International Airport or Yogyakarta International Airport so that the intermodal integration becomes a small cluster towards Borobudur Temple,” Budi said.
Budi Karya hoped the train operation can provide convenience for the local community and impress foreign tourists.
"In addition to integrated transportation modes, the operation of the Adi Soemarmo Airport Train which is connected directly to the airport departure terminal is one of the efforts to improve our services to airport service users. Angkasa Pura Airprots has built an airport train station that connects directly to the airport terminal so as to facilitate and provides convenience to airport service users," Faik said.
Faik added the aircraft’s departure terminal, which is directly connected to the airport train station and built by Angkasa Pura Airports, is the first of its kind in Indonesia. Airplane passengers who take train to the airport can directly and comfortably access the departure terminal without having to go through a long route.
"The presence of Adi Soemarmo Airport Train gives various advantages for prospective passengers. Railroad Transportation has the advantage of being punctual, safe and have good facilities,” Edi said.
Edi added that the presence of Adi Soemarmo Airport Rail Link makes Solo Balapan station a more integrated intermodal hub where it has been connected with Skybridge to Tirtonadi bus terminal.
Adi Soemarmo Airport Rail Link operates 60 times a day with headway of around 37 minutes to 45 minutes. The first train from Solo Balapan station (SLO) to Adi Soemarmo airport station (SMO) operates at 04.25 a.m. and ends at 11.14 p.m. Meanwhile, the first train from Adi Soemarmo airport station to Solo Balapan station operates at 04.53 a.m. and ends at 11.42 p.m.
The airport train consists of 4 cars which has a capacity of 206 passengers. Adi Soemarmo Airport Rail Link also provides special seats for people with disabilities, equipped with wheelchairs fasteners.
Each car has an environmentally friendly toilet, luggage rack on the side wall, electrical sockets and flat-screen television. In addition, to maintain passenger safety, each car is also equipped with CCTV.
The airport train station is built by Angkasa Pura I on an area of around 5,141 square meters and can accommodate up to 10,000 passengers with a total of three aircraft check-in counters, one self-check-in aircraft machine, and two airport train ticket counters.
Apart from that, the airport train station also have various facilities such as special elevators for persons with disabilities, nursery rooms, toilets, waiting rooms with air conditioning, tenants, customer service, prayer rooms, charging stations, and platforms.
