It used to be an embarrassing for security staff whenever foreigners asked about a train service to the city from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Not anymore. Now we have a new train service from Jakarta to the airport.

The new train that carries passengers to and from Central Jakarta and the airport, which is the busiest in the country, is an easy way for travelers in the capital to quickly catch their flights without worrying about getting bogged down by traffic jams.

The train, which was launched in December 2017 and is operated by PT Railink, transports people from Sudirman Baru station in Central Jakarta to the airport.

Among its many benefits is the speed in which it transports passengers. A one-way trip from Central Jakarta takes an average of 55 minutes.

Meanwhile, the average taxi or bus ride from the capital takes about two hours depending on traffic.

Further adding to convenience for air travelers is the price. A one-way ticket costs Rp 70,000 (US$4.90). 

The train also makes about 80 daily trips with pick-up times at 15-minute intervals and 30 minutes during rush hour. Each train can carry a total of 272 passengers.

For Pritha Elisa, a 26-year-old civil servant from Bekasi, the airport train is a great boon in her life.

Pritha said she used to take a taxi to the airport, which would cost her hundreds of thousands of rupiah and take hours, making the train a more convenient alternative.

Departing from Sudirman Baru at 12:51 p.m., she said the trip took only 55 minutes, as scheduled, getting her to the airport on time.

Better yet, thanks to the option that allows passengers to buy tickets through Railink’s smartphone application, Pritha was able to save even more time by not waiting in line to purchase a ticket.

“I don’t like to stand in line for tickets, so I just booked my ticket through the Railink app on my phone,” Pritha told The Jakarta Post recently.

The experience of riding the airport train itself is also quite unlike the usual trains Jakartans are used to. They are used to riding the daily KRL Commuter Line train and have trouble finding seating, even during non-rush hour periods.

With Railink’s airport train, however, your seat is secured. Nobody will ever have to spend the entire journey standing and gripping a train handle as more seats are available.

The train, produced by state-owned company PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA), is also fully air-conditioned, with additional facilities including televisions, charging ports, information boards and bathrooms.

Likewise, Sudirman Baru station is also pristine and fully air-conditioned, which is the opposite of most train stations in the capital.

The experience of being at the station is similar to arriving at an airport. It is fitted with vending machines, tapping gates, escalators, ATMs, waiting lounges, restaurants, bathrooms and prayer rooms.

Once passengers arrive at the airport, they touch down at a special terminal that is connected to a free Skytrain service that connects to all three terminals at the airport.

The overall experience is exceptional. The only potential problems that can arise with the entire system come when buying tickets. There are three ways of buying them: directly from electronic vendors at Railink’s departure stations, through the company’s website or through the app.

Buying directly at the station is simple enough. You go to one of the station’s many electronic ticket vendors and purchase directly from them. If you do decide to buy your ticket at the station, you will have to provide a debit or credit card, as all transactions are cashless.

For purchases made via the ticket machine, only your mobile phone number is required. The total transaction time is one to two minutes.

It is much better to buy the tickets online because sometimes there are long queues at stations.  Dini, 32, from Rawamangun, East Jakarta, was one of those who had trouble buying a ticket because hundreds of passengers scrambled to reach the ticket vending machines.

“If only I had known about this earlier, I would have booked my ticket from home [online],” Dini said.

The alternative and more reliable method is buying through the app, called Railink on Android and Indonesia Airport Railway on iOS or through the company’s website, reservation.railink.co.id.

Another potential problem for passengers, who travel from the airport, is to arrive at Sudirman Baru station and try to connect to the city’s Commuter Line train system.

To do so they will have to leave the station to get to the nearby Sudirman Baru station, which serves the Commuter Line trains. There is no bridge or connectors between the two stations. Despite the walk only taking about three to four minutes, it is inconvenient for travelers who are carrying heavy luggage.

Thus far, Railink only has two departure points for its airport train. Aside from Sudirman Baru station, another possible departure point is Batu Ceper station in Tangerang, which is closer to the airport and offers a reduced one-way travel fee of Rp 35,000.

The railway service plans to expand its list of stations to five, and will include Manggarai station, the central hub of inter-city trains in South Jakarta.

Besides the new train service, many private and government transportation companies ply their trade from the airport to destinations in Jakarta, Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang, Depok, Karawang and Purwakarta.

Photos JP/Arief Suhardiman