Indonesia Cancels Used Japanese Train Imports for Safety Reasons

Detailed summary

The state-owned railway operator KAI has been mulling importing secondhand Japanese trains to accommodate the hike in ridership. According to state-railway operator KAI boss Bobby…

Jakarta. Indonesia has scrapped its plans to import used Japanese commuter trains, citing safety reasons.

The state-owned railway operator KAI has been mulling importing secondhand Japanese trains to accommodate the hike in ridership. According to state-railway operator KAI boss Bobby Rasyidin, a team had flown to Japan to check on the trains, which averaged 28 years old.

“Our priority is safety. We must not neglect safety just because we want to increase the passenger capacity. That would be dangerous,” Bobby said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

“We have decided not to import secondhand trains due to safety risks.”

KAI is worried about how taxing it would be to maintain a graying fleet and its metal fatigue.

“There are many components in a single train. … The electrical systems' components are not only numerous, but they also have a short lifetime. … So imagine for how long can we sustain a 28-year-old train.”

Earlier, KAI floated other plans to increase passenger capacity, including increasing production at the state-run rolling stock manufacturer INKA. KAI is also mulling optimizing existing trainsets and making them last longer.

Almost 303.8 million people used the Greater Jakarta commuter line between January and October 2026, according to KAI. The monthly ridership reached 32.3 million in October alone.

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