Jakarta airport trains free of charge in December operation

State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) will not collect fares during a month-long operation in December. The trains will drop passengers from Tangerang, Banten and Jakarta's inner city at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

"The airport trains will be free of charge in December. They will start to operate commercially next year," said KAI finance director Didiek Hartantyo in Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Currently, KAI's management is still considering the ticket price, but it might be between Rp 75,000 (US$5.55) and Rp 100,000 per person per trip.

Read also: Airport trains to start running early next month

Didiek explained that the airport trains will run 80 times per day with headways of between 15 and 30 minutes.

Previously, railway operator PT Railink, a subsidiary of PT KAI, said 10 trains have been prepared with a capacity of 33,000 passengers per day.

For the time being, the trains will only stop at Soekarno-Hatta and Sudirman Baru station, but will also make stops at Manggarai, Duri and Batu Ceper in the near future.

Didiek said the trains have to start from Sudirman Station in Central Jakarta because the facility at Manggarai Station in South Jakarta had not been ready for the operation.

The carriages, produced by state-owned company PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA), are equipped with air conditioning, televisions, charging ports, information boards and toilets, while the stations are fitted with vending machines, tapping gates, escalators, ATMs, waiting lounges, commercial areas, meeting rooms, bathrooms and prayer rooms. (bbn)

Source: Jakarta airport trains free of charge in December operation