There may no longer be a need for the city’s less courteous train commuters to pretend they’re asleep so they don’t have to give up their seats to those who need it more, as the KRL Commuterline is planning to launch a “premium” service next year.
As reported by Kompas, comfort is the name of the game for the premium service as it will feature fully-seated carriages — meaning more seats compared to the current mixed seating-and-standing arrangement.
“Maybe there will also be Wi-Fi [on board], but the fare would still be affordable,” PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) Operations and Marketing Director Subakir said yesterday.
The fare, Subakir said, would go up to around IDR20,000 (US$1.38), significantly higher than the current IDR3,000 for 25 kilometers traveled on the regular service.
But that price should be justifiable for those longing for express travel on their long-distance commutes, as the premium service would only stop at several designated major stations.
The KRL Commuterline’s premium service is expected to go into trial in mid-2019 on the Tangerang and Bekasi lines, but KCI did not give an estimate as to when it will be officially launched.
By that time, Jakarta should already have the long-anticipated MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) railway system running if it meets its March 2019 launch target. In addition, the LRT (Light Rail Transit) system connecting Kelapa Gading to the Jakarta International Velodrome in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, which was initially targeted for operation for August’s Asian Games but had been pushed back to the end of this year, has again been slightly pushed back to January 2019.
