President Prabowo urges KAI to prioritise public service over profit

President Prabowo Subianto has urged PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) to prioritise its public service function over the pursuit of profit. Speaking at the inauguration of the revitalised Semarang Tawang Station in Central Java, the President stressed that railways should be viewed as a public service rather than a purely commercial enterprise.

“Kereta api must serve the people, which is why in many countries railways are considered a public service, not solely a profit-making venture,” the President said, as quoted from an official press release by the Presidential Secretariat in Jakarta on Thursday.

The President asserted that rail transport is an instrument of national economic democracy. “The railway is an economical logistics instrument. It benefits the wider public, especially low-income citizens,” he stated.

Prabowo added that operational efficiency must be maintained so that affordable mass transit services can reach all regions comprehensively. “There is sometimes a dilemma: we want fast trains, but then small towns end up unserved. Indonesia’s railways must think holistically and comprehensively,” he said.

According to the President, all modern facilities and advanced technology adopted by the government should ultimately aim to improve the quality of public service. He also advised that investment in the public transport sector should continue to be expanded to sustainably strengthen the economic foundations of lower-income communities.

Semarang Tawang Station is a major type-A station serving nearly all passenger train services passing through the city of Semarang. In the first half of 2026, the station recorded excellent passenger service performance, ranking as the fourth busiest station in Indonesia with over 2.15 million boarding and alighting activities and an on-time departure performance rate of 99.45 percent.