TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Toward the 2022 Christmas and New Year 2023 Holidays, state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) will be providing 5.5 million seats for train travel. From the provided number, KAI is targeting ticket sales for at least 4.4 million seats.

"Christmas is a celebration to us because of the opportunity to receive a better income after the difficulty that being faced during the Pandemic," said Commerce Director of PT KAI Hadis Surya Palapa in an event at the Ministry of SOEs office on Monday, December 12, 2022.

To anticipate the surge of passengers during this year's Christmas holiday period, Hadis has increased the number of trains by 23 percent compared to the previous year. Commuter trains will be increased by around 8 percent. But for the airport train, his company is yet to make any additions.

"The total group of active trains will operate an average of 1,653 trains per day or a total of 29,759 train trips per day during the Christmas holiday," said Hadis. This number is an increase of 5.6 percent from the daily average in 2021, which is 1,565 trains per day.

PT KAI has announced the Christmas holiday period from 22 December 2022 to 8 January 2023. Hadis also expects ticket sales to reach an average of 300,000 seats per day. This means that there is an additional uptake of around 26,000 to 30,000 seats per day. Because for regular trips, KAI usually absorbs 265,000 seats.

Furthermore, Hadis stated that the volume of passenger seats for the Christmas holiday period this year had doubled compared to the previous year. He is also optimistic that it will be followed by an increase in income. "So approximately 274 percent increase from 2021," said Hadis.

RIRI RAHAYU l IMAJI LASAHIDO

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