The idea of developing the airport railway system reportedly came up in the 1990s. However, the project plan was officially solidified only in 2011 with the issuing of a presidential regulation, Keppres No. 83 Year 2011, which assigned PT Angkasa Pura II and PT Kereta Api Indonesia to jointly carry out the project. The project suffered long setbacks due to disputed land requisition issue for construction of the new rail track and also frequent plan changes. The railway was opened between SHIA and BNI City on 26 December 2017 and officially inaugurated on 2 January 2018. At first this project was planned to only connect between Manggarai station at South Jakarta and SHIA station at Tangerang. An expansion to connect to Jakarta Kota station at West Jakarta was announced in 2017, but is not operational as of March 2019. The plan is to operate Jakarta Kota services via Kampung Bandan and Duri on existing track.
Route
There were 24 kilometers of existing train line from Manggarai to Batuceper and 12 kilometers of new track were built from Batuceper to SHIA station. At Duri, the trains reverse direction. At present passengers can board the train from Manggarai, BNI City, Duri, Batuceper and SHIA stations. Two new railway stations, SHIA and BNI City, were newly constructed, while others were renovated to serve airport passengers. Starting 19 June 2018, a limited number of trains were extended to Bekasi Station, serving Bekasi in West Java, a satellite town within Greater Jakarta,. Services to Bekasi were discontinued in September 2019.
Stations
The boarding stations for Soekarno–Hatta ARS are:
Bekasi
Manggarai
BNI City
Duri
Batuceper
SHIA
When Manggarai station was still under renovation, BNI City station was used as the temporary terminus for the city center. At Manggarai station, there is separate entrance gate for airport train, and the train operates from line 9 and 10.
Operations and schedule
The airport rail link services connect Jakarta city center with Soekarno–Hatta International Airport. The journey takes approximately 46 minutes from BNI City station to station. Each train has the capacity to carry up to 272 passengers and has the capacity to serve about 5,000 passengers with 80 trips a day. However, as of January 2019 ridership has not met expectations, with the service operating at only approximately 30% of capacity. As of March 2019, the airport train operates every 30 minutes in both directions, with services between 4:51 AM and 9:51 PM from BNI City and 6:20 AM to 11:20 PM from SHIA. The trip takes approximately 48 minutes, and there were also three daily round trips to Bekasi.. Ticket price for each journey is IDR70,000. Although initially the price point for each journey was set at IDR 100,000, government analysis recommended for a lower price point due to concern that that price would have been too expensive for consumers. Passengers can only book train tickets using credit and debit cards, as well as electronic money via Railink app available for smartphones or vending machines at stations.
Skytrain
The airport shuttle, Skytrain is the 3.05 kilometres Automated People Mover System serves to connect Soekarno-Hatta Airport Terminals 1, 2, 3 and SHIA railway stationfree of charge. Skytrain takes 5 minutes from one terminal to another, with 7 minutes needed to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3. The airport Skytrain shuttle is integrated to SHIA railway station, from where passengers can conveniently travel to–and from–Jakarta city center by train. Skytrain operating schedule is accessible online and through the Indonesia Airport website and smartphone application. Skytrain has been operational since 17 September 2017.
Proposed SHIA–HPIA express airport rail link
An express train service is now under planning stage to connect Soekarno–Hatta International Airport with Halim Perdanakusuma Airport. Completion of this line is expected to be completed at the very earliest in 2019. At first this project was solely planned to be built as an express line between Manggarai Station at South Jakarta and Soekarno–Hatta International Airport via Angke and Pluit, which would be a public–private partnership project. Later the route was extended from Manggarai to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, which is in East Jakarta. The 33 kilometer project, proposed as Halim-Cawang-Manggarai-Tanah Abang-Sudirman-Pluit Terminal 2 and 3 SHIA stretch route, has been proposed to include a combination of surface-underground-elevated tracks. The express train is projected to take 30 minutes to connect the two main airports that serve the Greater Jakarta area.
