Jakarta. Progress on the first phase of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit reached 91 percent at the end of February, on schedule for completion in December.

The Jakarta MRT was affected by the government's suspension of work on all elevated infrastructure construction projects last week, pending a safety audit after an accident at the construction site of an elevated toll road project in East Jakarta.

City-owned MRT Jakarta, which is responsible for the development and eventual operation of the mass rapid transit system, said the government has cleared the project for work to resume.

"Our work is still continuing and right on track. Some things we are currently doing include concrete production, the building of stations, and installation of the rails," MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said on Wednesday (28/02).

William said this includes construction of the underground line, which is current 96 percent complete, and the elevated line, which is 88 percent complete.

MRT Jakarta will start test runs of the trains without passengers in December. The 15.7-kilometer transit system connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta with the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta is scheduled to start operations in March 2019, William said.

Jakarta plans to have a 112-kilometer integrated MRT system with more than 60 stations by 2025. The MRT will also be integrated with other transportation networks, such as the 42-kilometer first phase of a light rail transit system, currently being built by a consortium led by state-owned Adhi Karya.

Work on the 8.4-kilometer second phase of the Jakarta MRT, which will connect the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle with Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta, will commence in December this year. It will have eight stations.

Funding for the Rp 17 trillion ($1.2 billion) first phase comes from the state budget, the Jakarta provincial budget and a Japanese government loan.

The second phase will cost approximately Rp 25 trillion.

"We expect to sign another loan agreement with Japan by April, because we need more funding to continue the project," William said.

Training

MRT Jakarta has sent some of its employees for training at the facilities of state utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) in Semarang, Central Java, on Feb. 19-28.

"[The training] was for learning how to operate electrical substations," said Agung Wicaksono,  director of operations and maintenance at MRT Jakarta.

"Because the MRT will use electric power, we decided to learn from the experts, PLN. We hope our employees have learnt well," he said.