KA Argo Cheribon 18A from Jakarta Gambir to Cirebon by Train in Economy Class (Ekonomi New Image)

Argo Cheribon is a series of trains operating between Jakarta Gambir and Cirebon, with some trains serving onwards to Tegal. For this day joyride out of Jakarta, I caught Argo Cheribon 18A to Cirebon on board Economy Class for a cheaper journey.

Jakarta Gambir Railway Station

Heading into Jakarta Gambir Railway Station.

It was a crowded morning at Jakarta Gambir Railway Station.

Check-in

Heading to the check-in kiosks to get my boarding pass for my Argo Cheribon 18A train.

Check-in is simple with just keying in my PNR and ticking my name.

My boarding pass for my Argo Cheribon 18A train from Jakarta Gambir to Cirebon. Despite having registered my vaccination information on PeduliLindungi already, my vaccination status still remains as unvaccinated. I’m not sure if this problem is for all foreigners.

Ticket Checking

Heading to the platform at ticket checking.

Looks like there’s 3 departures in the next half an hour. A busy morning.

My vaccination problem was easily solved by showing my vaccination certificate at ticket checking as my boarding pass was scanned by the staff. This took some additional seconds.

Vaccination is no longer required to travel on KAI trains.

Heading up the escalator to the platform.

My Argo Cheribon 18A was departing from Platform 4.

Platform assignments are pre-set for the entire day already. 2 screens are also set up to separate the departing trains for easy identification on which island platform to ascend to.

Heading up to Platform 4.

No train was at the platform yet when I arrived about half an hour before departure.

KA Argo Cheribon 18A

The incoming Argo Cheribon 17A train will u-turn to form my Argo Cheribon 18A train.

The arriving Argo Cheribon 17A train at Jakarta Gambir Railway Station.

My booked coach turned out to be the very first K3 2016 New Image coach, K3 0 16 01.

Looking out to the front before the locomotive runs around and gets coupled again.

K3 2016 New Image Economy Class

The interior of my K3 2016 New Image Economy Class coach. This K3 2016 New Image coach brought the Economy Class train era in Indonesia to more privacy with most seats in pairs and airline-style, in contrast to the usual Economy Class design with facing bays of 4 or 6 seats.

Seats face inwards in the coach, with 1 bay of 4 seats in the middle of the coach, which I had wanted to book.

I had unfortunately misestimated the middle facing row, and was seated 1 row behind it. Do note that the direction of travel is not guaranteed by PT KAI in booking of rows, and the rows may be in the opposite order even with the neighbouring coach in the same rake.

The legroom on board the K3 2016 New Image Economy Class coach. It isn’t great, but it is comparable to Economy Class legroom in planes, and the lower fares on Economy Class make it worthwhile nonetheless. On the plus side, seats do not recline, so the legroom will not be further restricted as the person in front cannot recline into you.

A set of centralised televisions are mounted in the middle of the coach for entertainment.

The legroom of the facing bay of 4 seats, in stark contrast to the regular airline-style seating.

A side table and 2 2-pin power sockets are available by the window seat.

A cup holder is also mounted behind every seat back. Passengers in the facing bay of 4 seats will not get a cup holder.

Pull-down retractable blinds on individual windows also replace curtains found on older Economy Class coaches.

The number plate of my K3 0 16 01. K3 stands for Economy Class, 0 stands for non-motorised, 16 represents the year of manufacture (2016) and 01 is the number in the series of coaches.

The route map of the various Argo Cheribon this rake serves. The timetable has been edited by pushing back the departure time by 10 minutes for my Argo Cheribon 18A, in contrast to the advertised 18F, but the stops (or rather, stop?) remain the same.

The conductor’s picture, name, and telephone number is also displayed in all coaches.

Squat and sitting toilets are available on board the K3 2016 New Image Economy Class coach.

The name plate of the KA Argo Cheribon on the side of selected coaches.

Kereta Makan (Restaurant Car)

A restaurant car or kereta makan is also attached on the Argo Cheribon.

A mushola is also available on board the kereta makan for Muslim prayers.

K1 2016 New Image Executive Class

The other half of the train is made up of K1 2016 New Image Executive Class coaches.

Seats on this rake of K1 2016 New Image Executive Class coaches have been refurbished to the new seats found on the newer Eksekutif Stainless Steel coaches.

Coupling the locomotive to my Argo Cheribon rake.

CC 206 13 93 leads my Argo Cheribon 18A train from Jakarta Gambir to Cirebon.

The number plate of CC 206 13 93. CC is the bogie arrangement of the locomotive (Co-Co), 206 or (CC206) is the class of locomotive, 13 represents the year of manufacture (2013), and 93 represents the number in the series. PT KAI bought 150 of these locomotives, making trainspotting a bit boring nowadays.

Departure from Jakarta Gambir

My Argo Cheribon 18A train departed from Jakarta Gambir on time at 8.30am.

Surprisingly, despite the crowd checking in at Jakarta Gambir Railway Station earlier, my Argo Cheribon 18A train was quite empty. As such, I moved myself to my intended booking of the bay of 4 seats for more legroom.

The conductor started his ticket checks on his phone, and cleared me for moving 1 seat forward as it will be empty throughout the train journey. There is no need to produce tickets for ticket checking as reserved seats and passenger details are all displayed on the conductor’s phone.

Passing through Gondangdia Railway Station.

Heading on the line down to ground level, while the new elevated line splits off.

Commuter trains take the new elevated viaduct to the new elevated platforms at Manggarai.

Merging with the Cikarang Line racket at Manggarai (ground level).

Passing by the construction of Manggarai Sentral Railway Station.

Passing through the original Manggarai Railway Station on ground level.

My Argo Cheribon 18A train made a brief stop at probably for operational purpose.

KAI Hygiene Kit

After tickets have been checked, a Reska staff came round to distribute hygiene kits to all passengers.

The KAI hygiene kit consisted of a resealable pouch with a KAI-branded N95/FFP2 mask and a packet of wet tissue.

Departing from Manggarai Railway Station.

Splitting off from the Bogor line.

Heading on the new elevated section to Jatinegara.

Passing through the new Matraman Railway Station.

Passing through Jatinegara Railway Station.

Passing by the new Cipinang Depot.

Trolley Service

The Reska staff then came around to sell food and drinks from the trolley.

Passing through Cikarang Station, heading out of the double-double track (DDT) sector.

Passing through Cikampek Railway Station, the junction station of the northern and western railway lines of Java.

The western line towards Bandung splits off after Cikampek Railway Station.

Crossing a railway crossing at the junction.

Heading alongside plantations.

Brunch

I headed over to the kereta makan to get brunch shortly after passing through Cikampek Railway Station.

Big seats and tables are provided in the kereta makan, along with power sockets mounted on the wall below the dining tables.

A table service is offered on board the kereta makan, with the staff providing the menu, taking orders, and serving meals.

For this late morning, I ordered a Nasi Goreng Kereta (Train Fried Rice) with Kopi Susu (coffee with milk).

The meal boxes are all similar, with the menu ticked in a box with a marker.

My brunch for this late morning.

The parts of my Nasi Goreng Kereta were all wrapped individually, except for the omelette.

My Nasi Goreng Kereta upon unwrapping the various parts of it. Meals are very standardised by Reska now across the train types, with reheating by microwaves done on board. This results in a consistent product, but not necessarily good. The Nasi Goreng Kereta tasted quite alright, but the flavour and texture was consistent throughout, without much variety of ingredients.

Jatibarang Railway Station

Making a brief stop at Jatibarang Railway Station.

The on-board cleaners hop down to the platform to align mobile steps to the train doors.

Heading along more plantations.

Passing by Cirebon Locomotive Depot on approach to Cirebon Railway Station.

Cirebon Railway Station

Arriving at Cirebon Railway Station.

My Argo Cheribon 18A train arrived at Cirebon Railway Station at 11.06am – 1 minute early.

Decoupling was done really fast and I could not get to the front of the train in time for a photo even when seated at the front of the train, exiting by the front-most door.

The station sign of Cirebon Railway Station.

The locomotive quickly moves on from the rake to return back to the depot.

A very fast turnaround with the coach numbers already flipped over even before arrival in Cirebon, to prepare for the next train back to Jakarta Gambir.

CC 206 13 93 running around at Cirebon.

Heading down the underpass to exit from the platform.

Heading through the underpass to the exit.

Heading out the other side.

It was a quick path to the exit, with not much trainspotting angles possible.

Antigen tests for COVID-19 were still offered at stations at the time of my train ride for unvaccinated passengers who wish to travel on KAI trains.

Vaccination or tests are no longer required for travel on KAI trains.

The façade of Cirebon Railway Station.

Banners of new train timetables are displayed outside Cirebon Railway Station. I would have preferred the timetables to be printed bigger though, with so much space in the banner but such small prints.

Cirebon Railway Station is located slightly off the main road, with a small park connecting them.

The entrance to Cirebon Railway Station is well-identified from the main road.

A preserved locomotive is also on display at the main road junction.

Some maintenance of way vehicles are also on display outside Daerah Operasi (DAOP) 3 Cirebon’s office.

Conclusion

My Argo Cheribon 18A offered an almost non-stop journey from Jakarta Gambir to Cirebon making only 1 stop at Jatibarang, with a scheduled travel time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. I was surprised at this 1-stop journey as I had thought that the Argo Cheribon was a more local train to supplement the longer-distance trains passing through Cirebon on further destinations such as Semarang and Surabaya, and more stops would be present to feed passengers to bigger stations line Cirebon. This provided a fast journey for sure, but was a bit boring as a railway fan with such a speedy journey with no variety of train operations.