Jakarta. Indonesia recently announced it would import three sets of Chinese trains worth totaling Rp 783 billion or approximately $49.7 million. 

KAI Commuter, a subsidiary of the national railway company KAI, signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese railway manufacturer CRRC Sifang in Beijing on Wednesday. This contract is for the purchase of three KCI-SFC120-V-type trains. 

“The procurement of such facilities … is to better serve the needs of the commuter line passengers in 2024-2025. Today, the [ridership] has reached almost 1 million passengers a day,” KAI Commuter president director Asdo Artriviyanto said in a press statement.

Aside from the Chinese trains, KAI Commuter has also inked a deal to buy 16 new trains --worth totaling Rp 3.83 trillion-- from the state-owned rolling stock manufacturer INKA. Asdo added that INKA had also agreed to retrofit 19 trains. The retrofit project costs over Rp 2.23 trillion.

KAI Commuter is paying these contracts using loans, KAI’s shareholder loans, as well as state capital injection, according to Asdo. 

Last November, KAI Commuter signed a memorandum of understanding with CRRC Qingdao Sifang for a “mutually beneficial cooperation” on the railway sector in Indonesia. This includes procurement of the so-called electric multiple units and diesel multiple units. The MoU also includes technology sharing, maintenance, and spare part procurement.

KAI Commuter reported that the Greater Jakarta commuter line recorded almost 290.9 million passengers throughout 2023. This marks a 38 percent increase versus 2022 levels, which saw around 239.3 million passengers.

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