Motorbike innovation helps KA improve efficiency

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/16/2008 12:48 PM  |  City

Despite high unemployment in the city, railway operator PT Kereta Api (KA) finds it hard to recruit railway inspectors to guard its railway network in Greater Jakarta.

Most young people nowadays will regard the job, which requires walking about seven kilometers each night regardless of the weather, as unattractive.

Because many inspectors will soon retire, the operator is left with no choice but to make the job easier for newcomers.

S. Suseno Priyanto, the innovator of KA's newly launched railway inspection motorcycles, said the only way to overcome the shortage of inspectors is to provide them with bikes.

He said the bikes, that have been modified to run on railways, would make it easier for officers to prevent thefts of railway bars, cables as well as communication and electricity devices in the large network.

"We need the motorbikes so we won't have to recruit as many new people to replace the retired inspectors," said Suseno.

Suseno, who has been working for KA since 1990, said the idea first came to him when floods inundated Jakarta in February 2007, particularly when he saw that railway workers in Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta, could not perform their duties.

"Then I decided to find a solution for the problem," he said.

By using the modified bikes that have a passenger seat, KA can send two inspectors at once to perform railway examinations and improve the accuracy of each inspection, he said.

"The motorbikes will allow the inspectors to ride more than 35 kilometers each night. It will increase efficiency and save more money because the company does not have to recruit as many people to become railway inspectors."

Among officials at KA, Suseno is known to be creative.

In 2003, he created a technique to fix the bogged-down railways. The technique has been successfully implemented in Purwokerto, Central Java, and Surabaya, East Java. (uwi)

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