Support efforts to revitalize electric locomotive carriages

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Transportation Ministry has expressed support for PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia’s (KCI’s) initiative to revitalize electric locomotive (KRL) carriages, which has been undertaken since some of the existing train cars will be phased out.

"This facility improvement needs to be done to replace some train cars, which will (no longer be used) by 2023 to 2024, considering they have been used for a very long time," spokesperson for the Transportation Ministry Adita Irawati said in a statement received here on Wednesday.

The support was expressed via a technical recommendation letter issued by the director general of trains at the Transportation Ministry on December 19, 2022. The ministry also noted that the revitalization is necessary to accommodate additional passengers.

According to data shared by the company, the highest number of passengers in 2019, that is prior to the pandemic, was recorded at 336.3 million. The figure was projected to increase to 523.6 million passengers by 2040.

In order to cater to the growth in the number of passengers, efforts need to be made to increase train capacity from 436 million seats in 2023 to 517 million seats by 2026. "May these efforts allow KCI to give the best services to the public," Irawati added.

Baca juga: FANTASTICS melangkah ke dunia baru lewat "Choo Choo TRAIN"
Baca juga: LRT Jakarta hadirkan "Train Simulator"

She said that there are other items needed for the revitalization: domestic products manufactured by PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA).. She highlighted the need for a temporary solution to address the increase in train passengers until the company can finish the production of carriages.

PT INKA needs two to three years to manufacture new train products, she noted. Thus, alternatives like non-new facilities could become a good option while the production is on. "Of course, we, the Transportation Ministry, truly support domestic facility products as a means of improving our industry; therefore, we commend PT KCI's measure of forging a memorandum of understanding with PT INKA for supplying these facilities," Irawati said.

The ministry has asked KCI to check the security components of the non-new railroad facilities it will use so they can be replaced or fixed should the components be found faulty, she added. She also urged them to follow the procedures set by the directorate general while conducting testing and issuing operation legibility certificates. The ministry also called for non-new facilities imported from Japan to be tweaked and improved with locally-made components so as to support local industry development.