Colonial era In 1917, a plan to introduce electric railways in what was then
Batavia known as
Jakarta was made by
Dutch colonial railway company
Staatsspoorwegen. A
railway between
Tanjung Priok to
Meester Cornelis (
Jatinegara) was the first line to be electrified, becoming the first narrow gauge electric railway service in Southeast Asia. The electric rail construction began in 1923 and completed on 24 December 1924, powered by 1500 V DC overhead wires. The line was opened on 6 April 1925—in time for the SS 50th anniversary—with 3000-series electric locomotives from SLM–BBC (
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works –
Brown Boveri & Cie), 3100-series electric
locomotives from
AEG Germany, 3200-series electric locomotives from
Werkspoor Netherlands and passenger coaches, as well as 30 ESS 100/200/400 EMU passenger motor and trailer cars forming electric multiple unit rakes, all manufactured for the railway by
Westinghouse and
General Electric. The electrification project continued and on 1 May 1927, all the rail lines that surround Batavia had been fully electrified. Batavia Zuid station (now
Jakarta Kota) was temporarily closed in 1926 and was reopened on 8 October 1929 to accommodate the new electric motive power that by then had become an envy of the region, which by then had been dominated by steam. The last part of the electrification project, Batavia Zuid – Buitenzorg (Bogor), was completed in 1930. After independence in 1945, in periods before and after a brief return to Dutch government control for the network and also a 4-year Japanese operation of the railways during the Second World War, the Jakarta electric railway fell under the supervision of the new Indonesian government thru DKARI (
Djawatan Kereta Api Repoeblik Indonesia, Indonesian Railways Service, former name of the present KAI), with Indonesian personnel controlling its assets. The city's growth postwar led to the network becoming the nation's true first commuter rail service, combined with steam and later on diesel powered commuter trains serving the capital and its suburbs.
Decline and revival Transportation in Jakarta was at its lowest point during the 1960s.
Tramways in Jakarta were closed in 1960 and railway traffic on Manggarai – Jakarta Kota was restricted in November 1966. In 1965, a portion of railway line between
Gondangdia and
Sawah Besar was stripped from electrification, with remaining services on the portion now powered by steam and diesel trains. It was reported that then-President
Sukarno wanted to get rid of anything that would block the view of
Monas and
Merdeka Square, then still under construction. After Sukarno's fall, the electrification was later reconstructed and was formally reopened in 1970 sans the EMUs, two converted into diesel railbuses, the rest into locomotive hauled trains for the steam and diesel traction of the capital commuter runs, as well as the remaining electric locomotives from the 1920s. On 16 May 1972, The National Railway Corporation of Indonesia (
Perusahaan Negara Kereta Api/PNKA, successor of DKA), as part of the festivities for the 47th anniversary of the electric railways, finally ordered 10 new sets of
electric multiple units from Japan, leading to the revival of the electric train services within Greater Jakarta. The new trains, built by
Nippon Sharyo, arrived in 1976 - as a belated gift for the Golden Jubilee of the commuter train services the previous year, 1975 - and replaced the old locomotives and locomotive-hauled coaches on the then electric lines, driven by the then ongoing rehabilitation efforts on the rest of the network and funding that precipated another round of expansion into the suburbs of the capital. These EMU sets consisted of four cars each, with capacity of 134 passengers per car. Those new trains (commonly known as
EMU Rheostatik) will continue serving the passengers in Jakarta for the next 37 years.
Commuterline era The current form of electric train service in Jakarta was begun in 2008.
Jabotabek Urban Transport Division, a sub-unit of KAI that handles commuter service around
Jabodetabek, spun-off to form
KAI Commuterline Jabodetabek (KCJ). Ticket revenues, rolling stock maintenance, and station management was transferred to the newly formed subsidiary, but all operational matters (e.g. scheduling and dispatching), rolling stock, stations and infrastructures remained under KAI responsibility. At the same time, all track matters and station construction and maintenance were handled by the Ministry of Transportation. The modernization of the commuter railway system, however, did not begin until 2011. Network operations were greatly simplified from 37
point-to-point service patterns into six integrated lines (known as "loop line" system) all running local, stopping at every station, as all express services were abolished. Service was also simplified into two service classes:
Economy class (cheaper service without air conditioning, subsidized by
Ministry of Transportation) and
Commuter class (more expensive service with air conditioning). On 17 April 2013, the Commuterline extension to Maja in the Green Line commenced operation. On 25 July 2013, the economy class was discontinued, leaving the Commuter class as the sole service class throughout the network. In July 2013, the operator introduced the
COMMET (Commuter Electronic Ticketing) system replacing the old paper ticket system and changing the old fare system into 'progressive fare' system, as well as modernization of all 80 serving stations. Starting on 1 April 2015, the Nambo line extension operation formally commenced. Three line extensions have been opened between 2015 and 2017: the extension of Pink Line to
Tanjung Priuk station which commenced operation on 22 December 2015, the extension of Green Line to
Rangkasbitung station which commenced operation on 1 April 2017, In July 2015, KA Commuter Jabodetabek served more than 850,000 passengers per day, which is almost triple the 2011 figures, but still less than 3.5% of all Jabodetabek commutes. Until 5 March 2014, KA Commuter Jabodetabek only operates 8-car trainsets on all lines. In 2016, the operation of 12-car trainsets commenced. As of December 2019, it operates 1,057 trips per day by 90 trains. Importation of used Japanese trainsets for use in Commuterline resulted in a
2023 controversy, when the importation of the used trains were banned. In May 2022, KAI Commuter announced some changes to the network, marking the first modification of the routing system since 2011 reform. The
Loop Line was discontinued with its Jatinegara-Manggarai loop part being absorbed by the Cikarang Line, which ceased service from Manggarai to Jakarta Kota in favor of the loop and was rebranded as
Cikarang Loop Line with blue-circled "C" symbol. The Nambo branch of the discontinued line was absorbed by the Central Line, which was rebranded as
Bogor Line with red-circled "B" symbol. The KRL Commuterline officially marked its centennial in 2025. ==Lines and services==