Passenger Services
Other than in West Sumatra, where only weekly tourist trains operate, PT Kereta Api (Persero) provides extensive passenger services. Various classes are available, from executive class air conditioned, reclining seat coaches comparable to the better classes of other country's railways, through non-air conditioned business class coaches having reclining seats, to the hard bench non-air conditioned economy class coaches for the cheaper trains.
Passenger trains run during daytime and evenings. As distances are not too great, no sleeping cars are provided, although non-airconditioned trains generally run in the evenings to alleviate the discomforts.
In Java, most trains connect Jakarta and the hinterland. Regional (or "cross-country" services) have not developed fully. Between pairs of important cities such as Jakarta and Bandung, intensive hourly services are provided.
Most passenger trains in Indonesia, except commuter locals were named. The names varied from plainly descriptive such as Depok Ekspres (a fast service between Jakarta and Depok), through Logawa (name of a river near Purwokerto, which is served by the train), Argo Lawu (Mt. Lawu, an extinct volcano near Solo, which is served by the said express train), to more or less meaningless, though romantic, names such as Bangunkarta (abbreviation of names of cities it serves: Jombang-Madiun-Jakarta) and Matarmaja (Malang-Blitar-Madiun-Jakarta).
Railway passenger services experienced a renaissance in the 1995-1999 period, with the introduction of many new passenger expresses. With the advent of cheap airplane tickets, PT Kereta Api has experienced a downturn in the number of passengers carried, though the number has stabilized and most trains remain at more than 50% occupancy rate.
Read more about this topic: Rapid Transit In Indonesia
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