Train tickets east nearly sold out

Yuli Tri Suwarni , The Jakarta Post , Bandung | Tue, 09/02/2008 10:21 AM | The Archipelago

Train tickets out of Bandung, West Java, to cities in East and Central Java were nearly sold out on the first day of Ramadan (Monday), a month before the Idul Fitri celebration that marks the end of the fasting month.

Mateta Rijaulhaq, spokesman for state train operator PT Kereta Api's Bandung operations, said 95 percent of business and executive class tickets for Sept. 28, three days ahead of Idul Fitri, had been sold.

"Between 70 and 80 percent of tickets for other dates have been sold," Mateta told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Tickets for the Mutiara Selatan line linking Bandung with Surabaya, East Java, had been fully sold out by Monday, Mateta said.

Five PT Kereta Api trains with executive and business classes run from Bandung station each day.

Two KA Lodaya trains go to Solo Balapan Station in Surakarta, Central Java. Mutiara Selatan and Argowilis trains serve the Surabaya routes while Harina goes to Semarang in Central Java.

A total of more than 1,800 seats are available for the five trains. Tickets with no seat numbers will also be sold for business classes for up to 25 percent of each train's seating capacity.

"We started selling the tickets online a month ahead of the departure day," Mateta said, explaining why tickets were almost sold out a month before this year's annual Idul Fitri exodus.

To increase seating capacity, Mateta said, the railway company had also organized for extra carriages to be added to each train to reach the maximum locomotive pulling capacity of nine carriages.

Tickets for economy class trains are sold with no seat numbers. Passengers must compete for seats when they board the train.

Mateta said he estimated that the number of passengers traveling from Bandung to East and Central Java this year would increase by only about 2 percent compared with that of last year.

Nearly 75,000 passengers left from the station for the two provinces last year, nearly 47,000 of whom were on economy class trains, with nearly 16,000 traveling business class and about 13,000 executive class.

"We don't dare to expect more because many prefer to use either motorcycles or private cars like last year," Mateta said.

There could even be a drop in the number of passengers using intercity buses, for the same reason, according to Andriansyah, chairman of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners' (Organda) West Java chapter.

Andriansyah estimates there will be as many as 200,000 fewer bus passengers this year compared with last year's figure of 1.3 million, because many will switch to either motorcycles or private cars.

"We have to be realistic. People want cheaper and more comfortable ways of moving. Motorcycles and private cars become their choice," Andriansyah said.

"West Java Organda will deploy at least 3,200 buses for routes inside the province and 2,400 buses to cities in other provinces.

"We also have some 590 units of tourist buses ready."

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |