P

eople commuting from the Cikarang industrial area in Bekasi regency may spend less time in traffic as a railway expansion is set to link the regency in West Java to the capital city.

State-run railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesi (KAI) through its subsidiary PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ), which operates commuter lines, has stepped up construction efforts and plans to operate the new line in September.

Thus far, Cikarang residents have relied on traveling by car, bus or local train in heading to and from Jakarta. People traveling from Jakarta by train must exit at Bekasi Station, continuing their journey by minibus or local train to reach the industrial town.

The Transportation Ministry is currently completing the construction of stations to support the operation for the route, Transportation Ministry traffic and train director Zulfikri said. From Jakarta, the line will start at either Jakarta Kota Station or Manggarai Station, passing three stations after Bekasi Station — East Bekasi, Tambun and Cibitung stations — before arriving at Cikarang Station.

“The first operation will be in September at the earliest. We are working to start it [the service] as there has been a high number of requests for the railway route,” Zulfikri told journalists on the sidelines of the train’s trial run from Manggarai to Cikarang on Friday.

The ministry, in an effort to meet the standards of upgraded train stations, is speeding up the construction of station buildings, platforms, gates and facilities such as ticket counters.

During the trial on Friday, KCJ operated one train comprising 12 passenger cars. One passenger car can accommodate up to 250 passengers, said KCJ spokesperson Eva Chairunnisa.

“It has not been decided how many trains will serve the route. For the time being, there might be 10 round trips from Jakarta Kota Station to Cikarang Station,” she said.

A ticket for a one-way trip between the Jakarta and Cikarang stations will cost an estimated Rp 5,000 (37 US cents).

KCJ is optimistic that the new service will have a steady flow of passengers, Eva said. According to KCJ, up to 95,000 passengers travel between Jakarta and Bekasi Station per day.

Eva said it would take around one-and-a-half hours to reach Cikarang from Jakarta Kota Station. On Friday’s trial, it took around one hour to reach Cikarang from Manggarai, but the train did not make any stops along the way.

Once operating, the commuter line will replace the local train, the services of which will be shut down.

Residents of Bekasi regency have expressed enthusiasm over the coming presence of a commuter line in the region, with some having flocked to Cikarang Station to witness the arrival of the commuter train during the trial run on Friday.

A local resident, Nora, 32, said she was looking forward to the line. Visiting Cikarang Station with her two sons, she said the new service would facilitate her in traveling to Bogor to visit her mother.

“I am really glad that there will finally be a commuter line in Cikarang. I cannot wait for it because I have to go to Bekasi Station first if I want to travel to Jakarta,” Nora said.

In her trips to Bogor twice a month, she and her husband and two sons travel by motorcycle for one hour to Bekasi, where they then take the train to Jakarta before transferring to a transit train that heads to Bogor.

KCJ also recently opened a commuter line service to Rangkasbitung in Banten, discontinuing the services of local trains in the area.