The Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Double Track Development of the Solo Balapan – Kalioso Railway and Traffic Engineering at the Joglo Intersection of Surakarta City was held on Saturday, January 8, 2022, at the Joglo Intersection of Surakarta. The Minister of Transportation, the Governor of Central Java, and the Mayor of Surakarta were present to give remarks. The Director General of Railways, the ranks of the Directorate General of Highways, Central Java Province Forkominda and Surakarta City Forkominda and other relevant Stake Holders were also present at this event.

The ground breaking is a sign of the start of the Simpang Joglo Surakarta area structuring project, which begins with the construction of the Elevated Track between Solo Balapan - Kadipiro carried out by the Class I Railways Engineering Office for Central Java Region, Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation.

Solo Balapan - Kalioso Double Track has a length of 10 km with an elevated track construction of 1.8 km, using a composite steel frame arch type bridge with a span of 270 m and a construction height of 40 meters, becoming a railway bridge with the longest span in Indonesia, across the above the Joglo intersection with an underpass structure underneath with a road width of 18 meters and a vehicle space height of 6.2 meters.

In the aspect of railways, the realization of the double-track train Solo Balapan - Kalioso can increase the cross-train capacity from 96 trips per day to 144 trips per day and reduce the headway from 26 minutes to 20 minutes.

On the highway aspect, traffic engineering at the Joglo intersection can increase the speed of passing vehicles, which was originally 15 km/hour increased to 28.40 km/hour, and reduce the travel time from 5 minutes to 2.39 minutes.

The construction of the Solo Balapan – Kalioso Double Track and Traffic Engineering at the Joglo Junction is a form of collaborative work between the Central Government and the Regional Government through the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Central Java Provincial Government, Surakarta City Government, and other relevant stakeholders. Hopefully, the development can run well and provide economic and social benefits for the wider community.