State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) suffered a Rp 1.35 trillion (US$92.5 million) loss in the first half of 2020 amid a slump in passenger numbers due to the cancelation of trains services during the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows.

According to KAI’s financial report released on Aug. 5 on the Indonesian Stock Exchange’s (IDX) website, the company’s revenue fell 38.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 7.4 trillion in the first half of 2020.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a slowdown in the global and domestic economies, which significantly affected the company’s businesses. The impact currently being experienced by the company is a decrease in passengers and volume of goods,” the report reads.

KAI shut down all of its long-distance and local passenger train services in April following the government's ban on the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus), and partially restarted its operations on June 12. The operational closures have caused a 43.6 percent yoy decline in passenger numbers during the first half of 2020 to 118.6 million people, according to Transportation Ministry data.

KAI president director Didiek Hartanto said Tuesday that the number of passengers has been steadily growing since the partial operational restart.

“We have started to see trains departing at full capacity, although they are limited to 70 percent occupancy, as regulated by the government,” he said during an online discussion held by the Transportation Ministry.

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