In Indonesia, trains are not regarded as a luxurious means of transportation, as long-distances rail journeys can be quite an ordeal.

While lower and middle-income passengers are resigned to the long travel times and discomfort, those with greater purchasing power opt for the quicker air travel instead.

State railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), however, is now targeting wealthier passengers with its most luxurious sleeper car service.

The sleeper car’s facilities are similar to those provided in an aircraft’s business class, with a private compartment, in-train entertainment with a 12-inch screen and an electric adjustable seat.

While KAI’s standard executive class car can accommodate up to 52 passengers, the sleeper car is limited to 18 passengers.

During KAI’s promotional period, passengers can pay Rp 900,000 (US$64.47) for a one-way trip in the sleeper car, currently available on a nine-hour trip on the Argo Bromo Anggrek train traveling to and from Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java.

Such a luxury service attracted Endah Wijayanti, 36, a private employee traveling from Jakarta to Semarang, Central Java, for the Idul Fitri holiday.

“I am currently really interested in traveling by rail [...] I wanted to try out [the sleeper car] because if it’s comfortable, why not [travel by train] instead of by plane? It’s much more practical anyway,” she said on
Tuesday.

Endah said she was used to traveling to various destinations across Java on planes but she acknowledged that railway services had improved, with air conditioned trains and more comfortable seating.

She had heard of the widely anticipated sleeper car through social media, which piqued her interest and led her to book a ticket through online marketplace Bukalapak, which also sells plane and train tickets.

Endah said the services and facilities in the sleeper car were indeed luxurious, but felt that the normal price after the promotional period, rumored to be around Rp 1.2 million, might be too expensive for her.

“If it’s just Rp 900,000, it’s still okay,” she said.

KAI president director Edi Sukmoro said the promotional fare was the company’s way of identifying the demand for the luxury service.

“As for the normal fare, we will recalculate it. But what’s certain is that it will be higher than our priority [class] train,” he said.

The sleeper car is ranked higher than the priority class, which is one of the premium options currently available for trains such as the Taksaka (Jakarta-Yogyakarta), Argo Lawu and Argo Dwipangga (Jakarta-Surakarta, Central Java).

The priority service, introduced last August, is also available for trains traveling from Jakarta to Bandung, West Java.

Passengers in the priority class can enjoy facilities such as video on demand, Wi-Fi, coffee and snacks, among others.

Edi said the calculation of the final fare would be determined by, among other factors, the perceived demand for the newly introduced sleeper car.

“What’s certain is that [the service] will be provided for people who want to rest when they travel [long distances], so that when they arrive, they can feel fresh and get back to work or do their activities right away,” he said.

He said the company was open to the possibility of making the service available on other routes.

So far, KAI has allocated four cars for the service, with four trips daily.

The sleeper car is part of KAI’s ongoing purchase from state train manufacturer PT INKA of 38 trains consisting of 438 cars, which includes 210 executive cars, 150 premium cars and 39 dining cars, among others.

The order is worth a total of Rp 2 trillion and the trains began to be delivered in February. The order will be completed in March 2019.

The rollout of the new service is also part of the company’s strategy to take advantage of the current peak season, during which KAI’s train load factor has reached 91 percent on many routes.

Edi declined to elaborate on the potential impact of the new service on the firm’s revenue.

The railway operator has forecast an increase in passenger numbers by 2.57 percent year-on-year to 399 million passengers in 2018.

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