Jakarta (23/02) - PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) is carrying out rejuvenation efforts on the aging electric railroad (KRL) facilities, and in order to continue providing good services to passengers, the Directorate General of Railways (DGKA) of the Ministry of Transportation is supporting this initiative. This support is being provided in the form of a technical recommendation letter issued by the Director General of Railways on 19 December 2022.

 "The procurement of these facilities must be carried out immediately to replace several trains that will be retired in 2023-2024 considering their longevity," said Ministry of Transportation Spokesperson Adita Irawati today (1/3).

 Apart from the need to replace aging facilities, the procurement is also necessary to accommodate the growth of passengers. According to data reported by PT KCI, the highest number of passengers before the pandemic was 336.3 million in 2019. The number of passengers is projected to continue to increase to 523.6 million by 2040.

To accommodate this growth, efforts are needed to increase the transport capacity from 436 million passengers in 2023, to 517 million people in 2026. "Hopefully this effort will continue to enable KCI to provide the best service for the community," said Adita.

Adita realizes that there are other needs in the procurement of these railway facilities, namely the use of domestic products, with the use of PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) products. "However, there needs to be a temporary solution to overcome the surge in KRL passengers until INKA products are completed and can be used to serve," she said.

Adita explained that the production period of new KRL train facilities by INKA takes 2-3 years, since now. "So, non-new KRL facilities are a wise choice in our opinion, while waiting for the production process from INKA to be completed," she said.

"Of course, we from the Ministry of Transportation strongly support the procurement of domestic production facilities to advance our industry so we also greatly appreciate the steps of PT KCI which has signed an MoU with PT INKA for this procurement," Adita added.

In connection with this, Adita emphasized, one of the recommendations of the Ministry of Transportation for the procurement of non-new KRL facilities is that KCI must ensure the feasibility of facility components that are directly related to safety. "If it has been decided to procure non-new facilities, we hope that PT KCI can also pay attention to components such as bogies, wheels, electricity, and braking so that they can be repaired or replaced with new components," she said.

Adita emphasized that the initial testing and issuance of operational feasibility certificates must follow the procedures and conditions set by the Ministry of Transportation's DGKA. Moreover, Adita encouraged the revitalization of non-new facilities imported from Japan using domestically produced components to support local industries. (HJA)