Spot Check: Bali Announces Urban Railway Project Valued at $29 billion
A sustainable transport solution to Bali’s traffic issues, or just a gateway to mass tourism?
Not that I like to blow my own Bugle, but I’d like to think I was the first surf journalist to cover the recent development/destruction of the Uluwatu cliffs and the building of a seawall in Bali.
That piece featured in SURFER and covered the excavation taking place to protect the Ulu Temple, where cracks in the cliff below have put it in jeopardy. The $7 million project has started and is due for completion in December. Since then more footage has shown the scale of the work being done, and the damage being done.
Five diggers have been operating 12 hours a day, cutting a swathe through one of the last remaining undeveloped tracts of land near Uluwatu. Whole sections of the cliff have been removed, with huge amounts of limestone and debris falling into the coral reefs below. There were no environmental impact studies done or community consultations.
As Kelly Slater put it. “Shit show. Gonna ruin all of it.”
It’s another example of the pace and the extent of Bali's development. Another facet of the boom in construction for tourism, apart from the environmental degradation, is how public infrastructure hasn’t kept up.
This is most obvious in the increased traffic on the island. A trip to Ubud, 40 kilometres inland from the airport often can take two hours. If you want to get to Canggu from the airport, or Kuta, you want to leave 90 minutes and be prepared for an injection of carbon monoxide to the eyeballs and lungs.
This is why the Balinese government has just announced they have secured investment for a $29 billion rail project to link the airport with tourist districts. The first stage will cover the Airport-Kuta Central Park-Seminyak-Berawa-Cemagi route. The second stage will connect the Airport-Jimbaran-Unud-Nusa Dua route. The third stage will extend from Kuta Central Park to Sesetan, Renon, and Sanur. The fourth stage will link Renon, Sukawati, and Ubud.
The Airport-Kuta and Airport-Jimbaran-Unud-Nusa Dua phases are scheduled for completion in early 2028, with all of phases one and two set to be finished by 2031. The total investment for these first two phases amounts to US$10.8 billion (Rp175.7 trillion). Meanwhile, the overall cost for all four construction phases is projected to reach US$20 billion (around Rp234.4 trillion).
The first phase is planned to have an underground route from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport to Kuta’s Sunset Road area. Phase 1A of the Bali LRT will have five stops. The 6.04 kilometres (km) requires approximately US$876 million or Rp14.2 trillion.
Now many experts say completion of the project's first phase by 2027 is unrealistic, given it will require boring underground in densely populated areas. Yet, with South Korean, UK and UAE investment, and government approval, the project has been green-lighted. It might not happen to deadline but it will happen.
It’s hard to argue with a sustainable transport solution to Bali’s traffic issues. Yet it's hard not to feel that it’s another stage in the move to mass tourism on the tiny island, already bursting at the seams.
Been to Bali recently? Hit me with your thoughts on the rail project please. Or share to those that might be interested.