On its busiest day, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway carried 21,537 passengers, and 99.6 percent of the seats were taken.
The operator, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a joint venture of Indonesian and Chinese state-owned firms, released the numbers as the line marked six months in service on Wednesday. Total ridership stood at 2.56 million. Commercial operation began around mid-October of the previous year, and the 2 million mark fell in early March, according to official data.
More trains, many more seats
Capacity has grown fast. Daily trips went from 14 at the start to 52 now, and seats rose from 8,400 to more than 31,000. KCIC said the railway had run 7,050 train trips in the period, covering over 1.26 million kilometers.
The company also pointed to changes meant to keep passengers coming. A dynamic fare policy was introduced, the schedule was reworked, and station facilities were improved. KCIC said it drew on China’s long experience with high-speed trains to run and maintain the line, including during extreme weather such as heavy rain and typhoons.
A shorter trip
Built for a design speed of 350 km per hour, the 142.3-km line takes about 40 minutes to get between Indonesia’s capital and Bandung, in West Java province. The trip used to take more than three hours. It is the first railway of its kind in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
Septian Hario Seto, deputy minister at Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said the line has moved travel between the two cities from highway to rail. “I am confident that in the future, our mobility pattern will evolve from individual transport to a more mass transport-oriented approach,” he said.
Sources
- Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway marks 6-month operation with 2.56 mln passengers
- Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway marks 6-month running with 2.56m passengers
- Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway marks 6-month operation with 2.56M passengers | english.scio.gov.cn
