Jakarta. Brand-new commuter trains imported from China will soon begin operating in Greater Jakarta, according to an executive of the city’s railway operator KAI Commuter.

Indonesia recently received 12 electric carriages manufactured by CRRC Sifang, which are currently undergoing track trials before being deployed for public use, said KAI Commuter Corporate Secretary Joni Martinus in Jakarta on Saturday.

“These trials will take time, so we ask the public to be patient. The new electric trains will not be ready for service during the upcoming Eid holidays,” Joni said.

He added that the trains arrived in excellent condition, with no technical issues reported during the testing phase so far.

Each carriage is required to complete 4,000 kilometers of trial runs -- primarily along the Jakarta–Bogor line -- before being cleared for regular operation.

The commuter rail network in Greater Jakarta has become the backbone of the capital's public transport system, serving around 1 million passengers on weekdays.

Currently, KAI Commuter operates 89 train sets, which are increasingly unable to meet the demands of the growing commuter population.

The decision to import train carriages from China was made due to limited production capacity at Indonesia’s state-owned train manufacturer INKA, which is already tasked with building new trains and retrofitting old ones for KAI Commuter.

Add as a preferred source on Google +