Gambir Station Prepared as a Modern Mobility Hub in Central Jakarta
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya emphasized President Prabowo Subianto's great attention to strengthening national railways as the backbone of public transportation. This attention is reflected in the push for the development and arrangement of Gambir Station to continue so that it becomes increasingly aligned with the dynamics of Jakarta's urban mobility.
According to Teddy, strengthening national railways is an important part of the agenda to improve safe, comfortable, and affordable public transportation services for the community. In that context, Gambir Station is viewed as having a strategic position because it is located in the city center and serves large-scale community mobility.
"If I may share, back when I was little, I often went to Gambir Station. Then until now, well, it's just the same, it hasn't changed. So, while Mr. President Director, the President gives great attention to railways, please renovate it, repair it, beautify it, make it prettier, make it more comfortable," Teddy said.
He assessed that the momentum of government attention to the railway sector needs to be utilized to push Gambir Station to become a more representative, comfortable station that is relevant to the community's current mobility needs. With its strategic position and role, the development of Gambir becomes important so that the services provided are increasingly in line with the character of central Jakarta's area.
"While Mr. President Director and the President are giving great attention to the national railways now, I propose that Gambir Station continue to be developed and upgraded. Area reorganization, facility updates, and strengthening the aspect of comfort need to be done so that the public's experience when using trains becomes better and aligns with Gambir's role as the main national mobility hub," he continued to the President Director of KAI.
In line with these directions, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) President Director Bobby Rasyidin stated that KAI is preparing for the gradual development of Gambir Station as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) area and a major intermodal hub in central Jakarta.
"The development of Gambir Station is directed toward land use optimization through the arrangement of commercial zones and multifunctional public spaces, the integration of the station area with activity centers in the Medan Merdeka area, as well as the provision of diverse and segmented commercial functions," Bobby said.
In terms of connectivity, Gambir Station will be strengthened as an integrated transportation hub that seamlessly connects Long-Distance Trains, the Commuter Line, Jakarta MRT, and bus services. Area arrangement is also directed to be integrated with public spaces and city parks in the Medan Merdeka area, including the National Monument area.
The outdoor spatial arrangement of the building area is also designed by introducing vegetation elements in the space between buildings up to the rooftop area. This step is expected to create a shadier, more humane, and comfortable environment in the middle of a dynamic downtown area.
The urgency of this development became even more visible during the 2026 Eid Transportation period. During the period from March 11 to April 1, 2026, Gambir Station was recorded as one of the public's favorite stations, both for departures and arrivals. To date, the number of passengers who have departed and will depart from Gambir Station has reached 214,060 passengers, placing it in the top two highest departure stations. Meanwhile, the volume of arriving passengers reached 186,858 passengers, also placing Gambir among the top two national favorite arrival stations. These figures continue to move along with ongoing ticket sales.
KAI Vice President of Corporate Communication Anne Purba said that the high mobility at Gambir Station shows the important role of this station in supporting community travel during the 2026 Eid Transportation period. According to Anne, Gambir is currently one of the main departure and arrival points for long-distance train passengers in central Jakarta, while also reinforcing the urgency of station area development so that it is increasingly able to answer ever-increasing mobility needs.
Specifically for movement on March 18, 2026, the volume of Long-Distance Train passengers in the Daop 1 Jakarta region showed high activity. Based on preliminary data, Gambir Station will serve 17,687 departing passengers and 8,046 arriving passengers in a single day. These figures place Gambir Station as the second highest departure station in the Daop 1 Jakarta region after Pasarsenen Station. These numbers still have the potential to increase along with ongoing ticket sales.
"Gambir Station is one of the very important points in this year's Eid Transportation services. In a single day, Gambir will serve more than 17 thousand departing passengers and 8 thousand arriving passengers. These figures place Gambir as the second highest departure station in Daop 1 Jakarta after Pasarsenen. This high movement shows that Gambir holds a strategic role as a hub for community mobility from central Jakarta to various destination cities," Anne said.
Anne added that the massive mobility in Gambir also shows that the development of this station is becoming increasingly relevant. With a very strategic location in central Jakarta, Gambir needs to be continuously strengthened in terms of services, comfort, and area arrangement in order to answer the community's developing mobility needs.
"The massive mobility at Gambir Station shows that the development of this area is becoming increasingly important. With its strategic location in central Jakarta, Gambir needs to be continuously strengthened so that it can present services that are increasingly better, more comfortable, and in accordance with customer needs," Anne continued.
Nationally, as of March 16, 2026, at 10.00 Western Indonesia Time, 2026 Eid Transportation tickets sold have reached 3,483,469 tickets or 77.4 percent of the total 4,498,696 seats provided for Long-Distance Train and Local Train journeys in the period from March 11 to April 1, 2026. With this achievement, around 1,015,227 seats are still available for the public to utilize.
"The trend of homecoming travel by train has continued to strengthen since mid-March. This is visible from ticket sales increasing gradually, especially on long-distance train services which are the public's choice for intercity travel," Anne said.
On Long-Distance Train services, ticket sales have reached 3,141,282 tickets or 87.9 percent of the total 3,571,760 seats provided. This means there are still around 430,478 seats that can be booked by the public for homecoming or return trips.
Meanwhile, on Local Train services managed by KAI, ticket sales were recorded at 342,187 tickets or 36.9 percent of the total 926,936 seats available. Thus, there are still around 584,749 seats that can be utilized by customers. Local train ticket sales generally continue to move closer to the departure date because most services can only be booked starting H-7.
During the first seven days of the Eid Transportation period, namely from March 11 to 17, 2026, Long-Distance Train services have served 1,125,378 passengers across various routes in Java and Sumatra. This data shows that homecoming movements formed earlier and increased gradually day by day, so passenger distribution became more evenly spread.
On March 18, 2026, the departure volume of Long-Distance Train passengers in the Daop 1 Jakarta region was recorded originating from Pasarsenen Station at 22,519 passengers, Gambir Station at 17,687 passengers, Bekasi Station at 6,245 passengers, Cikarang Station at 2,120 passengers, Jatinegara Station at 1,466 passengers, Cikampek Station at 1,446 passengers, and Karawang Station at 795 passengers.
Meanwhile, for arrivals on the same day, Pasarsenen Station recorded 10,265 passengers, Gambir Station 8,046 passengers, Bekasi Station 4,406 passengers, Jatinegara Station 3,928 passengers, Cikarang Station 904 passengers, Cikampek Station 812 passengers, and Karawang Station 795 passengers.
From Gambir Station, routes temporarily recorded as passenger favorites include Gambir–Yogyakarta, Gambir–Semarang Tawang, Gambir–Cirebon, and Gambir–Bandung. The high interest in these routes further affirms Gambir's position as one of the important mobility hubs during the Eid period.
KAI invites the public who have not obtained tickets to consider alternative route options, different departure schedules, or connecting train journey schemes. With more flexible trip planning, the chances of getting tickets will be increasingly open.
"With available capacity still on hand, KAI invites the public to immediately plan their Eid trips well so that the homecoming journey is more comfortable, smooth, and enjoyable with the train," Anne concluded.
VP Corporate Communication KAI