Gen Z Chooses Trains to Support Sustainable Transport
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Gen Z is becoming a growing group of passengers at PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) because trains are seen as an environmentally friendly transport option to support future sustainability, based on usage trends from 2025 through the first quarter of 2026.
“Young people who ride the train already talk about sustainability. We are also capturing this by implementing several measures at KAI, such as listing the carbon footprint on tickets, so they know their contribution to reducing pollution,” said Anne Purba, Vice President Corporate Communications of KAI, in an interview quoted on Wednesday.
The trend is reflected in a survey conducted by ANTARA News Agency during the 2026 Eid period. The survey results show KAI’s new passengers continue to increase and are dominated by the productive-age group, who regard sustainability as the main reason for using trains.
KAI projects passenger growth of 6–8 percent. However, some services have grown above targets, including long-distance trains and local trains which rose by more than 15 percent, and LRT and KRL which grew above 10 percent.
“These potentials mean KAI must prepare short- and long-term investments over the next five years because we see growth continuing to rise,” Anne said.
Anne explained that all KAI service development is based on customer input managed through the Customer Licence Management system, integrated with ticket data and Dukcapil population data.
In the five years up to mid-March 2025, KAI received around 12.6 million customer inputs which were then translated into various service-improvement programmes.
Besides improving basic services, KAI has also invested in analytical CCTV systems to address cases of sexual harassment on public transport.
Of the 12.6 million customer inputs in a year, there were about 50 reports of sexual harassment. Although the number is small proportionally, Anne regards the impact as very large on public trust in using public transport.
Going forward, KAI plans to develop several services, including electrification of the KRL lines towards Karawang and Merak, reactivation of old rail lines, and intermodal integration with TransJakarta and ride-hailing services.
Anne also mentioned KAI’s ambition to become a world-class operator, including the possibility of operating trains in other countries, given Indonesia is now the only ASEAN country with high-speed trains operated 100 per cent by Indonesian train drivers.
“To the Indonesian public, our customers, know that riding the train is your step to save Indonesia’s future from pollution. Do not forget to ride the train to anywhere and leave your carbon footprint so that we can see our contribution to saving Indonesia’s future,” Anne said.