Jakarta’s 104-Year-Old Commuter Station Closes for Integration with Nearby Station

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Starting Tuesday, September 1, 2026, a commuter railway station in central Jakarta has been closed. This is done as part of an integration project with a new station located immediately next to it.

Karet Station is one of the stations in Central Jakarta on the railway line connecting Manggarai Station and Tanah Abang Station, two major interchange stations in the KRL Commuter Line system. The station began operating in 1922, making it 104 years old.

Until August, Karet Station served the Cikarang Loop Line (Blue Line), one of five KRL Commuter Line routes operated by KAI Commuter, a subsidiary of the state-owned railway company KAI. The line runs from Cikarang Station in Bekasi Regency, West Java, to central Jakarta, before continuing around the loop line and stopping at various interchange stations.

The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Line, an airport rail service operated by KAI Commuter, passes through, but does not stop at Karet Station. Instead, it stops at the station immediately next to it, BNI City Station.

BNI City Station is located on the western side of Jalan Sudirman, one of Jakarta’s main thoroughfares and home to the city’s central business district and numerous important buildings. Also known as Sudirman Baru Station, to distinguish it from the station on the eastern side of the road, it was named after the state-owned bank BNI under a naming-rights arrangement.

Built between 2017 and 2018, BNI City Station was originally designed exclusively for airport trains operated by another KAI subsidiary, KAI Bandara. Beginning in 2023, KAI Commuter took over operations of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Line and subsequently also began using the station for commuter rail services, allowing it to serve two services simultaneously.

According to a KAI Commuter statement released on Saturday, August 29, 2026, the company will integrate Karet Station with BNI City Station starting September 1. The integration is part of efforts to improve KRL Commuter Line services and make passengers’ journeys safer and more comfortable.

“The integration work is being prepared with the utmost caution because Karet Station has long been part of the daily activities of Commuter Line users and the communities around the station,” KAI Commuter President Director Purnomo Sidi conveyed.

The integration work will take place from September 1 through Thursday, December 31, 2026. During the construction period, passenger boarding and alighting services will be transferred to BNI City Station.

From January through July 2026, Karet Station recorded 2,175,455 passengers boarding and 2,127,155 passengers alighting. With the integration, Karet Station will effectively cease serving passengers as of Tuesday.