KAI Group strengthens low-emission electric urban mobility

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) Group is strengthening low-emission urban mobility through the development of electricity-based transport services to support sustainable transportation, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the quality of the urban environment.

Vice President Corporate Communication of KAI, Anne Purba, stated that electricity-based services play an important role in meeting the needs of urban transportation that is efficient, integrated, and low in emissions.

“Urban electric trains provide direct benefits to the public. Journeys become more predictable, service capacity is large, and the emissions produced per customer are far lower compared to private vehicles,” Anne said in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday.

According to her, urban mobility continues to increase alongside the denser activities of people in urban areas. Journeys to workplaces, schools, business centres, educational areas, airports, and public spaces require transportation capable of serving many people, on schedule, and more environmentally friendly. In this context, KAI Group’s electricity-based urban services are an important part of modern urban mobility.

Throughout January to May 2026, the Jabodebek LRT, Jabodetabek Commuter Line, Soekarno-Hatta Airport Commuter Line, Yogyakarta Commuter Line, and South Sumatra LRT served a total of 166,154,342 customers.

For modern urban services, the Jabodebek LRT served 13,211,856 customers from January to May 2026. This figure increased by 23.16 percent compared to the same period in 2025, which recorded 10,727,798 customers. From an environmental perspective, the Jabodebek LRT produces emissions of about 15 grammes of CO₂e per passenger per kilometre. This figure is lower compared to motorcycles, which reach about 37 grammes of CO₂e per passenger per kilometre. Based on this comparison, motorcycle emissions are about 146.67 percent higher than the Jabodebek LRT, or the Jabodebek LRT produces about 59.46 percent lower emissions than motorcycles.

The largest contribution from KAI Group’s electricity-based urban services came from the Jabodetabek Commuter Line, which served 146,259,555 customers from January to May 2026. This number increased by 5.81 percent compared to 138,227,725 customers from January to May 2025. The Commuter Line is the backbone of daily mobility in Greater Jakarta as it serves public travel from residential areas to centres of economic activity. With large service capacity and an intensive schedule, the Commuter Line helps reduce dependence on private vehicles in the agglomeration area.

According to research by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Commuter Line produces emissions of about 34.03 grammes of CO₂ per passenger-kilometre. This figure is lower than cars, which produce about 42 grammes of CO₂ per passenger-kilometre assuming four people per car.

Beyond Greater Jakarta, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Commuter Line also plays a role in strengthening connectivity to the air transport hub. Throughout January to May 2026, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Commuter Line served 1,013,574 customers, an increase of 14.78 percent compared to 883,065 customers in the same period of 2025.

In the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java, the Yogyakarta Commuter Line served 3,854,340 customers from January to May 2026. This number rose by 7.88 percent compared to 3,572,727 customers from January to May 2025. This service supports the movement of people along the Yogyakarta–Solo corridor connected to educational, trade, tourism, and daily activity centres.

Meanwhile, the South Sumatra LRT served 1,815,017 customers throughout January to May 2026. As the first urban rail transit system in Sumatra, this mode plays a role in connecting various activity centres in Palembang City, ranging from residential areas, business centres, offices, universities, the Jakabaring sports complex, to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport. The South Sumatra LRT uses electric power with a Bottom Flow Electricity system or third rail at 750 V DC supplied from electrical substations. This system makes South Sumatra LRT operations free from direct exhaust emissions during travel because the trains are driven by electric motors.

Based on a simple calculation, if each customer of KAI Group’s electricity-based urban services travels an average of 10 kilometres per journey, the Jabodebek LRT, Commuter Line, and South Sumatra LRT services from January to May 2026 helped reduce emissions by around 15,350 tonnes of CO₂e compared to using private vehicles. This calculation uses customer volume data and available transport emission factors.

Anne added that strengthening electricity-based urban transportation is part of KAI Group’s efforts to support low-emission mobility in urban areas. “Every customer who switches to electricity-based public transport helps to reduce the daily transport emission burden,” said Anne. Therefore, KAI Group continues to strengthen urban services so they are increasingly accessible, comfortable to use, and relevant to the needs of urban communities.