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s passenger numbers skyrocket, companies are increasingly attracted by the chance to advertise on commuter trains (KRL).

Commuter rail operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek'€™s (KCJ) director of operations and commerce, Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi, said that the number of adverts on KRL had grown along with the number of passengers over the years.

'€œCurrently, the commuter line transports about 850,000 passengers per day. Our advertisers have also been increasing over the years because the train is a great potential medium for companies to advertise their products,'€ Dwiyana told The Jakarta Post at Kota train station in West Jakarta recently.

He revealed that KCJ had raked in Rp 80 billion (US$59.9 million) in 2014 for advertisements and was targeting Rp 100 billion this year. Moreover, he said, from January to June this year, advertisements on KRL had increased by more than 10 percent from the same period in 2014. KCJ would hold bids to determine which companies had the right to advertise, he said.

'€œWe'€™re going to hold bids for advertising packages. One package is for one carriage of an electric train,'€ he said.

He explained that advertised products ranged from beverages and medicine to financial services and fashion products, adding that companies were advertising in increasingly innovative ways, moving on from static posters.

'€œFor example, musician Rio Febrian recently boarded a train to promote his new song,'€ Dwiyana said.

Earlier this month, Rio boarded a train at Tanjung Barat train station in South Jakarta to promote his song and shoot a music video. According to Dwiyana, the singer interacted in a relaxed and friendly manner with dozens of commuters.

'€œAnother unique advertisement we received was to promote the movie Minions. The company had people dress up in minion costumes and board the train. The passengers appeared to enjoy it,'€ he said.

The promotion for Minions went viral in Jakarta after passengers shared pictures of their encounters with the yellow characters on trains and at stations.

The advertiser also decorated the floor of a carriage with pictures of the characters.

The promotion was organized by PT VIAeight Indonesia, an outdoor advertising agency that places advertisements not only on trains but also on buses and in stations owned by city-owned bus operator PT Transportasi Jakarta (Transjakarta).

Like Dwinanda, VIAeight director Mulyadi Ng said that advertisers were interested in KL because of its large number of passengers. Furthermore, he said, trains had more space for advertisements, not only on windows and doors, but also in the spaces between seats and on the exterior of carriages.

'€œKRL has more passengers than Transjakarta and that is very strategic for advertisers,'€ he said, adding that advertisers often requested placement on trains plying strategic routes such as the route from Kota to Bogor, West Java, or the loop line from Jatinegara, East Jakarta, to Bogor.

Their efforts seem to bear fruit, with a number of passengers remarking on the advertisements they had seen on KRL.

One passenger, Anindya Anggraeni, said that she had even waited specially for the train carrying the characters from Minions.

'€œThere are lots of very creative advertisements on the trains. Aside from the Minions movie, I'€™ve also recently seen witty advertisements placed on the handles and drink advertisements run on monitors,'€ she said.