In July 2019, Craig Moore reports from Jakarta:
Jakarta
MRT
The first full metro in Indonesia, Jakarta MRT, opened in late March 2019.
The line runs from Lebak Bulus (shedding facilities) through the southern
suburbs on viaduct to the Blok M shopping area before heading underground
after ASEAN and proceeding below Jalan Surdirman and the main commercial
area to the busiest station Dukuh Atas (transfer to KRL, Airport Line,
TransJakarta BRT and the future LRT). From here it moves to the northern
terminus of Bundaran HI where there is direct underground access to the
TransJakarta platform. The line is 14.6km (revenue) with 5.3km underground.
It has 13 stations (6 underground) and a journey time of 29mins. Services
operate from 0530-2200 at 10min base headways, although 5min headways
are being trialled.
The underground stations have attractive street entrances (no totem) and along the route there has been much beautification of the surrounds with greenery, new street paving, and smart new bus stops and seating areas. The mezzanines have wayfinding signage with smart font and station information boards including vicinity maps and line schematic (see below). Tickets are bought from the ticket office although most passengers use contactless pre-paid e-money cards that are valid on all forms of transport (to note that a transport only pre-paid contactless card is being developed). Fares are distance based and start at IRP3000 (€0.19), increasing by IRP1000 for every station (max. IRP14000) (€0.88). This is quite expensive when compared to the flat fare of IRP3500 for TransJakarta buses (€0.22). Tickets are tapped on the barriers at entry and exit, but there is currently a delay in the card registering its validity with the software in the ticket gates and there is a time lag of approx. 3secs between tapping and gates opening. At busy periods, this causes quite a tailback at the gates.
The stations are clean and have pale cream tiling and good luminosity ... [download full report here]