wandering around jakarta in a Parisian way,,

one thing i love about Paris, after the buildings and the food, is the metro railway system. the system make it so very easy for people to wander around Paris. just hop on the train and in few minutes you arrived in your destination. and the good news is … we have similar system in Jakarta!

i know that Jakarta has its intra-city railway system since the Dutch era, but i’ve never tried to hop on one of those train until a few months ago. our apartment is located near one of the train station, so we’ve been experimenting some routes of the commuter line and so far the result is satisfactory

yesterday we planned to spend the evening in Plaza Indonesia, located in Thamrin area. usually i’d take the bus to go there, but yesterday i decided to take the train and i recorded the time to compare it with the time spent if i took the bus instead.

• walking from apartment to the train station: 5 minutes
• waiting for the train: 5 minutes
• taking the train from Kalibata to Sudirman station: 18 minutes
• walking from Sudirman station to Plaza Indonesia: 22 minutes

so voila! it took me less than one hour to reach Plaza Indonesia compared with one & a half hour if i took the bus (due to traffic jam, frequent stops, etc). so it’s faster, more comfortable due to the air con couch and i got to enjoy the jakarta’s skyscrapers along the Thamrin road during the walking! well, i have to admit that the train ticket is a little bit more expensive i.e. 6000 IDR vs 4000 IDR if i took the bus, but it’s worthed considering the time saving and the safety aspect (by considering the attitude of most of the bus drivers. you know what i mean).

so, in conclusion, i do believe that revitalization of the commuter line will contribute in solving the problem of traffic jam in Jakarta. adding more couch or even expanding the railway network will encourage people to take the train, and have some healthy walking, instead of driving their own car or motor cycle.

you can find out more about Jakarta’s commuter line on their website and you can see some pictures from yesterday below. have a nice Saturday all

not-so-crowded Kalibata station

inside the comfy train

nice view, and nice pedestrian path, along Thamrin