Jakarta: Karet Station Closed, BNI City Logs over 300% Surge in Passengers
Commuter Rail Disruption: Jakarta's Karet Station Shuts Down for Four Months as BNI City Absorbs a Massive Passenger Spike
Kabarsaji.com – The Sudirman corridor in central Jakarta — one of the city's busiest office and commercial arteries — lost a key commuter rail stop on Monday, September 1, 2026, when PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and its commuter subsidiary KAI Commuter halted all boarding and alighting operations at Karet Station. The shutdown, which will persist through December 31, 2026, is tied to a long-planned integration project that will physically link Karet with the adjacent Sudirman Baru and BNI City stations, reshaping how tens of thousands of daily riders move through the area.
For the duration of the closure, every passenger who previously used Karet must now route through either Sudirman Baru or BNI City. The two replacement stops sit within walking distance of the former Karet platform, connected by a dedicated corridor that feeds directly into the west hall beneath BNI City. That hall has been outfitted with electronic ticket gates, fare counters, and the full complement of passenger-service infrastructure needed to handle the added load.
Capacity and Access Upgrades
KAI Commuter Vice President for Corporate Communications Karina Amanda confirmed in a written statement issued on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, that the reconfigured facility can process up to 2,000 passengers per hour — a figure designed to absorb the displaced Karet ridership without creating dangerous bottlenecks.
"This station can accommodate up to 2,000 passengers per hour," Karina said in a written statement on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
BNI City also maintains independent street-level entrances and exits along Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, complete with their own gate arrays and ticketing points. For office workers heading into the Sudirman business district — home to multinational headquarters, government ministries, and dense commercial towers — that street-level access shortens the final leg of the commute considerably compared with the old Karet layout.
Station personnel have been repositioned around the BNI City complex to guide displaced riders through the new circulation paths. Karina urged commuters to follow on-site signage and staff instructions rather than relying on habit or outdated maps.
"Therefore, always pay attention to information and directions from station staff," she said.
A 326-Percent Surge in Morning Ridership
The first morning of the diversion produced an immediate and dramatic spike in BNI City usage. By 10:00 a.m. on September 1, station counters recorded 8,679 alighting passengers and 641 boardings — figures that dwarfed the roughly 2,036 riders who had typically disembarked at the station on a comparable weekday before the closure. That jump represents a 326 percent increase over the pre-closure baseline.
KAI Commuter's operational forecast for the full day projects total boardings at Sudirman Baru and BNI City reaching 20,513, with alighting volumes climbing to 18,696. The number of Cikarang-line trains threading through the station remains fixed at 264 per day; no additional services have been added, meaning the existing rolling stock must absorb the redistributed demand.
Practical Guidance for Affected Riders
Commuters unfamiliar with the new layout should consult the C-Access mobile application, which carries updated departure times and platform assignments for Sudirman Baru-bound services. Karina specifically pointed riders to the app as the fastest way to confirm which train stops where during the transition period.
The four-month window gives the integration project time to complete structural work connecting the three stations into a single, unified interchange. Once finished, the combined facility is expected to streamline transfers, reduce platform congestion that has plagued the Sudirman corridor during peak hours, and eliminate the awkward mid-block walk that previously separated Karet from the main office towers.
Until then, however, the morning and evening rush will test whether the upgraded BNI City hall can genuinely sustain the 2,000-passenger-per-hour throughput under sustained load. Early data from the first day suggests the system is absorbing the shock, but the coming weeks — particularly the first full business cycle — will reveal whether additional operational adjustments, such as temporary frequency increases or crowd-management protocols, become necessary to keep the corridor moving safely.
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