Jalan M.H. Thamrin

The road that would become Thamrin Road first appear around late 1910s-1920s as a small lane running from Koningsplein West (now Medan Merdeka Barat) to Kebon Sirih. This lane was known as Gang Timboel.[1][3] Prominent landmark near this small lane was a 19th-century Armenian Church for the Armenian community of Batavia.[4] The church has been demolished. The former location of the Armenian Church is the green within the complex of Bank Indonesia.

The development of the suburb Kebayoran in 1949 raised the need to link the suburb with the city center of Jakarta, and thus work on a new "highway" began in the same year. The northern half of this new highway received the name Jalan M.H. Thamrin by January 1951, after Indonesian National Hero Mohammad Husni Thamrin.[1] To avoid the occupation of the newly opened lands by illegal squatters - a major problem at the time - the government sold these lands cheaply to those who committed to build on it within three to six months. Despite this, time extensions had to be granted because buyers could not arrange finance or procure building materials.[5]

Among the early projects situated in Thamrin Road were Sarinah Department Store, Bank Dagang Negara building (now Wisma Mandiri), Ministry of Religion building, Wisma Nusantara, Hotel Indonesia and the prominent Bundaran Hotel Indonesia.[5] Thamrin Road was largely completed by 1953.[1]

View of the southern half of Thamrin Road from Hotel Kartika Plaza in the 1970s.

With the arrival of the 1962 Asian Games, President Sukarno imagined the VIP visitors for the Asian Games arriving at Kemayoran Airport, drove along Thamrin Road, be greeted by the Welcome Monument and stayed at Hotel Indonesia. For the Games itself, the same VIP visitors would be driven along Sudirman Road over the Semanggi cloverleaf bridge into the newly-opened Gelora Bung Karno sports complex where the competitions would take place.[6] For the purpose of the game, both Thamrin and Sudirman Road were widened in the early 1960s.[1] A regulation was also established which requires buildings along Thamrin Road to be minimum five-stories-high. This was difficult to achieve due to lack of funding and commercial building expertise at that time, and the fact that there were already several two-story government buildings along Thamrin Road.[5]

In the beginning of 1970s, Thamrin Road was already a major thoroughfare of Jakarta as envisaged by Sukarno. Buildings reached a minimum height of five stories e.g. ICA building (later the United Nations), Hotel Asoka, the Australian Embassy, and the state-owned developer Pembangunan Perumahan. Sudirman Road was still relatively devoid of development during the early 1970s compare with Thamrin Road, with the exception of the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.[7]

Several parades were enacted along the major thoroughfare, including Jakarta's anniversary parade and Independence Day parade.

Thamrin Road in 1993 before the introduction of TransJakarta BRT.

Up until the 2000s, Thamrin Road consisted of four carriageways consisting of local-express lanes, 3 lanes for the express lane and 2 lanes for the local lane. With the introduction of TransJakarta BRT in 2004, one of the lane of the express lanes was converted into a dedicated lane for the BRT. Eventually, Thamrin Road was made a dual carriageway by removing the separator of the local and express lanes.

The Jakarta administration in December 2014 introduced a ban on motorcycles from using Jalan Thamrin and the adjoining Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat.[8]

The ban was lifted by governor Anies Baswedan in 2018.

The Bundaran HI Transjakarta BRT station in 2010 (above) and after its renovation in 2022 (below).

There are four stops for the TransJakarta busway along Jalan M.H. Thamrin, mainly serving for Route 1, 6A, and 6B. They are:

• Tosari, close to Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, in front of UOB Plaza and The City Tower.
• M.H. Thamrin, in front of Sarinah, General Election Supervisory Agency (Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum) and Menara Eksekutif.
• Bank Indonesia, in front of Bank Indonesia (north) and near Wisma Mandiri (south).
• Bundaran Hotel Indonesia, in front of Bundaran HI with a passageway linking the stop with Bundaran HI MRT station.

The Transjakarta routes that serves the M.H. Thamrin Road are:

• BRT Corridors
  • Blok M-Kota
  • Kalideres–Bundaran HI (temporary)[lower-alpha 1]
  • Ragunan-M.H. Thamrin via Kuningan
  • Ragunan-M.H. Thamrin via Semanggi
  • Pinang Ranti-Kota
• Inner city feeder
  • 1P Senen–Blok M
  • 9D Pasar Minggu–Tanah Abang
• Dukuh Atas TOD connection route
  • DA4 Dukuh Atas–Kota
• RoyalTrans
  • 1T Cibubur Junction–Kota
• Free buses
  • GR1 Bundaran Senayan–Harmoni
• #jakartaexplorer tour buses
  • BW2 (Jakarta Modern)
  • BW3 (Art and culinary)
  • BW4 (Jakarta skyscrapers)
  • BW5 (Jakarta open space)
  • BW6 (Jakarta Heritage)
  • BW7 (Jakarta Shopping)

Apart from Transjakarta, here are the list of public transportation routes that serve the M.H. Thamrin Road:

• Metromini S640 Pasar Minggu-Tanah Abang
• Metromini P15 Senen-Setiabudi
• Kopaja P19 Tanah Abang-Ragunan
• Kopaja S602 AC Monas-Ragunan
• PPD AC11 Pulo Gadung-Grogol
• PPD AC16 Lebak Bulus-Rawamangun
• PPD P67 Blok M-Senen
• PPD 213 Grogol-Kampung Melayu
• Mayasari Bakti AC52 Tanah Abang-Bekasi (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Bulak Kapal)
• Mayasari Bakti AC52A Tanah Abang-Jatiasih (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Jatibening)
• Mayasari Bakti AC62 Senen-Poris Plawad (via Slipi - Sudirman - Thamrin - Karawaci)
• Mayasari Bakti AC70 Tanah Abang-Kp. Rambutan (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - UKI - Ps. Rebo)
• Mayasari Bakti AC70A Tanah Abang-Cileungsi (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Cibubur)
• Bianglala Metropolitan AC44 Senen-Ciledug (via Stasiun Gambir - Sudirman - Thamrin - Kebayoran Lama)
• Bianglala Metropolitan AC57 Harmoni-Ciputat (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Fatmawati - Lebak Bulus)
• Bianglala Metropolitan AC76 Senen-Ciputat (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Fatmawati - Lebak Bulus)
• Jasa Utama P125 Blok M-Tanjung Priok (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Ps. Baru)

The platform of the Bundaran HI MRT station underneath the M.H. Thamrin Road

The M.H. Thamrin Road is also served by the North–South Line of the Jakarta MRT There are two stations:

• Bundaran HI, near Plaza Indonesia, Pullman Hotel, Wisma Nusantara and Selamat Datang Monument
• Thamrin (under construction), near BPPT, Bank Indonesia Head Office, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Indosurya Finance Center, Wisma Mandiri, and Bangkok Bank

The frontage of the Sudirman railway station

This road is also accessible with the Cikarang Loop Line of the KRL Commuterline There is one station:

• Sudirman Station

A KRL Commuterline train passing through the BNI City railway station

M.H. Thamrin Road is also served by the Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link There is one station:

• BNI City Station