PT KAI receives 20 more electric carriages from Japan

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State railway company PT KAI last Dec 24 received 20 more second-hand coaches from Japan which constituted the third batch of a total of 160 the company had ordered, a KAI spokesman said.

The second batch comprising 8 coaches arrived last Dec 3 and the first, consisting of 16 coaches, last July so that PT KAI had so far taken delivery of 44 of the 160 second-hand coaches bought from Japan, Ahmad Sujudi, the KAI spokesman, said.

"Although they are second-hand, their condition is still very good by Indonesian standards," Sujudi said on Tuesday.

After acquiring all the Japanese-made coaches it had ordered, PT KAI would increase the frequency of its services on the Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi route which was being upgraded to become a double-track one, he said.

He said PT KAI would also introduce an automatic ticketing system on the Pal Merah-Serpong route as of February 2007.

Along the 24-km Pal Merah-Serpong route at least six stations were being built and each of the trains would have eight coaches.

With eight coaches, four of the trains would go to Serpong, and the other four to Jakarta.

"The automatic ticketing system will be identical to that in use at the Trans Jakarta bus stations," he said.

In the first stage, there would be 64 trips covered by eight trains, and the frequency would be increased in stages to 120.

With the application of the automatic ticketing system on the Pal Merah-Serpong route, the Indonesian railway company would enter a new era, he said.

He said with the automatic ticketing system, the doors leading to passenger waiting halls would open only after putting a ticket into a slot machine installed at the entrance.