KAI: Interest in Lebaran Homecoming Travel This Year is Quite High

Jakarta - KAI’s Jakarta Operations Area 1 Public Relations Manager Franoto Wibowo stated that public interest in using trains as a mode of transport for Lebaran homecoming this year is quite high, particularly on the popular dates leading up to Eid al-Fitr.

“Interest in Lebaran homecoming up to the 20th is quite high, so seat availability from today until the 20th is indeed very thin,” said Franoto when met by reporters at Pasar Senen Station, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.

According to him, the favourite destinations for passengers from Jakarta are Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Purwokerto, Bandung, Malang, and Jember.

Nevertheless, he said that there are still around 300,000 train tickets available for purchase by the public during the period of 21 March to 1 April 2026 if they did not manage to travel during the pre-Lebaran period.

The public, he said, can plan their journeys well by booking tickets through the Access by KAI application or official sales channels that collaborate with KAI.

He also revealed that the number of passengers departing from Pasar Senen Station as of 18 March 2026 was 22,519 people.

“This will continue or keep increasing in line with ticket sales that are still ongoing until midnight,” Franoto stated.

“Since 2 February, it’s been quite tough because we stayed up until half past one in the morning queuing for tickets,” said Nurma at Pasar Senen Station with her friend Esa (20).

In agreement with Nurma, Esa also admitted to queuing for train tickets since February and had failed several times when booking.

Nurma, who works as a babysitter in Grogol, said she did not participate in the government’s homecoming programme because she was unaware of it.

“I’ve never tried the free homecoming. We always miss the information about free homecoming,” said Nurma.

Based on KAI data, cumulatively, the total number of departing passengers during the period of 11-18 March 2026 reached 377,349 passengers.

The stations with the highest departure volumes on 18 March 2026 were Pasar Senen Station (22,519 passengers), Gambir Station (17,687 passengers), and Bekasi Station (4,406 passengers).

Of the total capacity of 1,083,623 long-distance train seats provided during the Lebaran period, 743,786 tickets have been sold, with an average occupancy rate of 69 percent.