Solo – Yogyakarta KRL Transports Two Million Passengers A Year, Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya Optimistic That Fuel Consumption Drops 51 Percent

JAKARTA - The Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi welcomed the Solo-Yogyakarta relation electric rail train (KRL), which continues to show its existence. According to the Minister of Transportation, within one year of KRL operation, it will have a good impact on driving people's mobility to use public transportation modes.

"The presence of the Solo-Yogyakarta KRL will contribute to reducing the fuel consumption rate by up to 51.7 percent and we hope that the level of interest shifting from private vehicles to KRL will reach 50 percent," he said in an official statement quoted on Monday, March 7.

The Minister of Transportation added that the relationship between the two cities in the central region of Java Island is also claimed to have been able to carry up to two million passengers since it first operated last year.

"This shows that people's enthusiasm for using KRL is quite high, even in the midst of a pandemic," he said.

For information, this mass transportation facility was first inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo on March 1, 2021, which is part of the government's efforts to build future transportation in a sustainable manner.

Before there was a train, the Ministry of Transportation confirmed that the people of Solo - Yogyakarta relied on road transportation for daily mobility. This causes high consumption of fuel oil which causes high emissions and air pollution.

"We continue to coordinate with local governments, operators, and also relevant stakeholders so that mass transportation in Solo - Yogyakarta is more integrated between modes so that it is more easily accessible," said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya.

On the same occasion, Director General of Railways Zulfikri explained that KRL is one of the modes of mass transportation that has a number of advantages when compared to other modes.

A number of advantages, namely having low emissions (environmentally friendly), long-term service reliability, movement efficiency, high carrying capacity, and strengthening the spatial structure.

Zulfikri added, the presence of the Solo-Yogyakarta KRL will also replace its predecessor, the Prambanan Express Diesel Rail Train (KRDE Prameks).

"We will continue to develop the electrification of the railway in Solo - Yogyakarta, extend the line to Palur in Solo, connect trains from Wonogiri to Adi Sumarmo Airport, and build a KRL depot in the Jebres area," he said.