Airport train operator PT Railink is planning to resume service between Jakarta stations and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on July 1.
The company’s acting president director, Mukti Jauhari, said on Wednesday that Railink would have 50 scheduled daily departures in July. The company suspended operations in April because of the pandemic.
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The subsidiary of state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said it would comply with health protocols for rail transportation during the new normal period, as the government gradually relaxed restrictions to reopen the economy.
The company will operate trains at 70 percent of their passenger capacity during the first phase of reopening, as stipulated by Transportation Ministry Circular No.14/2020 on the maintenance of physical distance between passengers.
“We are preparing to provide our customers with prime service during the new normal period. Our staff will implement health protocols; we will disinfect our facilities; and there will be seat blocking to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” he said in a press release on Wednesday.
The government’s large scale social restrictions (PSBB) led transportation companies throughout the country to suspend their services.
Railink will require passengers to wear face masks, maintain physical distance and have their temperatures checked before departure and during the trip, Mukti added.
Railink’s parent company, KAI, resumed 14 long-distance and 23 local passenger train routes on June 12, after it suspended all passenger train service in April following the government’s ban on the Idul Fitri tradition of mudik (exodus).
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Based on KAI data, since the relaxation of the restrictions, long-distance rail ridership grew to about 4,100 passengers on June 22 from about 1,100 passengers on June 12.
Ridership on inner-city trains increased 35 percent from June 12 to about 25,300 passengers on June 22.
“The increase in passengers signals strong public trust in KAI services during the new normal,” KAI spokesperson Joni Martinus said in a press release on Tuesday.
