Knock! KAI Commuter Officially Chooses New KRL 3 Trainset Imports From China

KRL (Photo: Doc. VOI)

JAKARTA - PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia or KAI Commuter will officially import three series of three new KRL series with KCI-SFC120-V type from a manufacturer from China, CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd.

The official purchase was made after the two signed a New Electric Railroad (KRL) Cooperation Contract on January 31, 2024 in Beijing, China.

KAI Commuter President Director Asdo Artriviyanto said the procurement of three new imported KRL series from CRRC Sifang, China has a total investment of around IDR 783 billion.

"The procurement of this new KRL facility is a fulfillment of the number of KRL facilities in accordance with the needs of the Jabodetabek Commuter Line user service in 2024-2025 which has reached almost 1 million users per day," said Asdo in an official statement, Wednesday, January 31.

Asdo said that in fulfilling the procurement of this KRL facility, KAI Commuter had signed a cooperation in procuring KRL facilities with several parties. First, the procurement of 16 new KRL facilities by PT INKA with a total investment of almost Rp. 3.83 trillion.

Then, continued Asdo, the procurement of 19 series of Retrofit KRLs by PT INKA with a total investment of more than IDR 2.23 trillion.

"All the financing from KAI Commuter loans, Shareholder Loans from PT KAI and assistance from the Government through State Capital Participation (PMN)," he said.

Asdo said that the procurement of the new KRL facilities was also part of a series of fulfillment of the Jabodetabek KRL facilities discussed at the Coordination Meeting which was chaired directly by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in June 2023.

The meeting was also attended by the Ministry of SOEs, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Industry, BPKP, PT INKA, and other stakeholders.

"Procurement of new KRL means of imports is also the last process of the series of procurement of KRL facilities by KAI Commuter according to the results of the Coordination Meeting chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries," he explained.

Asdo said, the procurement of KRL facilities was carried out to increase the transport capacity of users and the replacement of KRL facilities which will be revoked by PT INKA. The KRL facilities that have entered the rejuvenation period will gradually continue to be replaced with a retrofit process to maintain the operational needs of the Jabodetabek Commuter Line service with a target of 1.2 million users per day by 2025.

In 2023 yesterday, said Asdp, KAI Commuter recorded a total of 290,890,677 Jabodetabek Commuter Line users. This figure is 38 percent higher than the volume in 2022, which is 239,254,813 people.

"KAI Commuter also predicts the growth of the volume of Jabodetabek Commuter Line users by 4 percent per year or an increase of 16.98 million users every year," he said.

Previously, on November 9, 2023, KAI Commuter also signed an MoU with CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. for mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of railway facilities in Indonesia.

Starting from the procurement of Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) facilities or mobile train facilities with electric power or Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) or train facilities with diesel power.

The MoU is also a forum for technology sharing, maintenance of facilities, capacity building facilities, procurement of spare parts, and improvement of railway human resources. This memorandum of understanding of cooperation is also an update of the cooperation that has been carried out in previous years.

This needs to be done considering the continued development of railway technology. This is one of KAI Commuter's efforts to improve railway technology," said Asdo.