LRT Illustration (Source: observerid.com)

Jakarta – Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on September 27 that the country’s government targets the light rail transit (LRT) project in Bali to start its groundbreaking in early 2024.

The study had been carried out for a long time but was hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Pandjaitan noted that the LRT will cross I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport and support passengers' movement from and to the airport. With no LRT, an accumulation of passengers will occur in 2026, considering that the airport serves around 24 million passengers annually.

The minister also stated that during the meeting, President Joko Widodo had ordered ministers to conduct further studies for the Bali LRT from the Ngurah Rai Airport to Seminyak or further to Canggu, with a total length of around 20km.

“We are planning to charge a ticket price of around 1-2 USD for each airplane passenger, whether they use the LRT or not. Therefore, the public financing can support the LRT operation,” he added.