KAI strengthens asset utilisation to boost non-ticket revenue

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) is working to increase company revenue by leveraging its assets, given that 96 per cent of its income is currently supported by ticket sales. “So far, 96 per cent of KAI’s revenue comes from train operations, and only 4 per cent is what we call ‘non-fare box’ (revenue outside of tickets),” said President Director of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) Bobby Rasyidin during a discussion with journalists on a tourist train journey from Yogyakarta to Jakarta. He noted that for railway operators in a number of other countries, such as Japan and Hong Kong’s MRT, non-ticket revenue is far more dominant, as they maximise non-fare box income. To that end, Bobby said the company will maximise its assets to provide added value for the company. “Currently it’s only 2.1 per cent. We are starting to empower these underleveraged assets. Right now, there is only one business model, which I call the ‘fare box’,” he stated. Bobby explained that the fare box revenue model means the company relies solely on one main business model, namely selling tickets to customers travelling from one city to another. Bobby added that KAI is currently maximising four main pillars to increase company revenue: first, strengthening operations; second, asset utilisation; third, ridership; and fourth, strengthening railway industrialisation.