Japan gives 72 used trains to PT KAI

JAKARTA: Japan donated 72 used trains this year to PT KAI to improve the city's transportation service, a Japanese official said.

Indonesia, however, had to pay for the cost of delivery, Shigeya Aoyama, the first secretary on information and cultural affairs at the Japanese Embassy, said on Thursday at Manggarai Station in Central Jakarta. He refused to mention the cost, but said that Japan had provided Indonesia with a loan to pay for the delivery cost.

The ex MITA-SEN trains, which had been used for 30 years in Japan, could be deployed here for about another 10 years, Aoyama said.

Along with the grant, the Japanese government had also sent two experts to teach train maintenance to local employees of state-owned railway company PT KAI, he said.

Currently, some 52 of the trains have been running in Greater Jakarta, while the rest are still being fixed to adjust to the railway system in Indonesia. --JP