KCJ to operate new trains, schedule

JAKARTA. As of June 1, electric train operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) will implement a new commuter line schedule for efficiency.

KCJ communication manager Eva Chairunisa said the commuter train schedule was revised following the completion of the double track railway in north Java, which shortens the journey times of long haul trains, as well as due to the operation next month of nine newly-procured trains.

With the new train schedule, KCJ will increase the frequency of train journeys from 589 to 645 trips per day.

“Passengers will see a slightly different schedule. We will place the new schedule in stations, but right now it can be downloaded on our website,” she said after a press conference on Monday.

The more efficient schedule, which had been submitted to the Directorate General of Railways at the Transportation Ministry, was expected to reduce train queues at big stations such as Manggarai in South Jakarta, Gambir in Central Jakarta and Jatinegara in East Jakarta.

The new schedule still gives top priority to the busy Depok and Bogor routes, with 33 trains serving 294 trips per day. The Bekasi route is served by nine trains with a total 117 trips per day while the Serpong route is served by eight trains with a total of around 100 trips per day. The Tangerang route will be served by three trains with 62 trips per day.

Eva said the nine new trains formed part of 18 trains that each had 10 carriages and were procured from the Japan Railway Group in 2013.

“The remaining nine are still going through the certification process,” she said.

The company chose a Japanese company instead of a European or Chinese one as Japan used 1,067-millimeter width railway specifications, the same as Indonesia.

Europe and China used 1,435 millimeter width specifications — an international standard.

Eva said the KCJ had mapped out a train procurement program from 2008 to 2019 to meet the target of transporting 1.2 million passengers in 2019. The target was set by the Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4).

“Unfortunately, we still have to pay tax of around 10 percent for the train procurement. We have asked the government to wipe off the tax since 2008, but to no avail because we are included as part of the private sector,” she said.

According to the KCJ, passenger occupancy before the eticketing program was 400,000 to 470,000 per day. After the eticketing program, it reached 650,000 to 700,000 per day.

However, the commuter line has still received complaints from passengers — usually posted via social media — on late arrivals, air conditioning inside carriages and poor toilet facilities at stations. (Indah Setiawati)