Five Historic KAI Trains Serve 1.26 Million Passengers, Continuing a Legacy of Over Four Decades

Long before train tickets could be booked through mobile phones, several train names were already familiar to the public. Mutiara Selatan, Fajar Utama Solo, Senja Utama Solo, Fajar Utama Yogyakarta, and Senja Utama Yogyakarta are among them. For decades, these services have accompanied passengers on journeys for various purposes, from returning to their hometowns and commuting to pursuing education and visiting family.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero), or KAI, recorded a combined 1,258,364 passengers on these five historic train services from January to September 2026. The figure shows that trains with a long history remain part of the public’s travel choices today.

KAI Vice President of Corporate Communication Anne Purba explained that the longevity of these services reflects how railway history continues to evolve alongside changing public needs. Each train name carries its own story, shaped by generations of passengers as well as developments in railway technology and facilities.

One of the longest-running services is KA Mutiara Selatan, which began operating on August 17, 1972. Connecting Bandung and Surabaya through Java’s southern railway line, the train continues to serve passengers today. From January to September 2026, Mutiara Selatan carried 342,036 passengers, an increase of 0.98% compared with the same period last year.

Another familiar name is Senja Utama Solo, which began serving the Solo–Jakarta route on October 14, 1978. Fajar Utama Solo was introduced later, giving passengers more departure-time options along the corridor.

Nearly 48 years after Senja Utama Solo’s first journey, the two services carried a combined 320,037 passengers from January to September 2026. Fajar Utama Solo served 164,342 passengers, up 6.80% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Senja Utama Solo carried 155,695 passengers, an increase of 4.65% compared with the same period in 2025.

On the Jakarta–Yogyakarta corridor, Fajar Utama Yogyakarta and Senja Utama Yogyakarta have also been familiar names since the 1980s. Their identities reflect different times of day, with fajar meaning dawn and senja meaning dusk, both of which have long been associated with these train services.

During the first nine months of 2026, Fajar Utama Yogyakarta served 306,328 passengers, while Senja Utama Yogyakarta carried 289,963 passengers. Together, the two services recorded 596,291 passengers from January to September.

Behind these long-standing names, railway technology and rolling stock have continued to evolve. This can be seen in Fajar Utama Solo and Senja Utama Solo. When it first began operating, Senja Utama Solo used business-class coaches manufactured by Goša in Yugoslavia. Today, both services operate with the latest-generation stainless steel trainsets produced by PT INKA in Madiun.

This transformation shows how a train service can pass through different stages of development in Indonesia’s railway industry. While rolling stock and facilities continue to be upgraded, familiar train names remain a link to their history.

Anne noted that the continued operation of these historic services forms part of the railway identity that has grown alongside the public. Even as trains become more modern, facilities become more diverse, and ticket booking systems become easier to use, their historical legacy remains worth preserving.

On a broader scale, KAI Group served 394,443,300 passengers from January to September 2026, an increase of 7.06% from 368,429,917 passengers in the same period last year. KAI’s long-distance and local train services alone carried 43,959,327 passengers, up 8.33% year-on-year.

Indonesia’s railway heritage is reflected not only in train names but also in station buildings, locomotives, and other historic railway assets. Together, they form part of the country’s transportation history, which continues to develop with the times.

KAI aims to preserve this legacy while continuing to provide services that meet the needs of today’s passengers. In doing so, train names that have accompanied generations can remain familiar and continue to be part of Indonesia’s travel stories.