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Railway becomes a training ground
Dozens of college students, who had been anxiously waiting an hour for their train to arrive, finally boarded the carriage
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Dozens of college students, who had been anxiously waiting an hour for their train to arrive, finally boarded the carriage. They took their seats -- some even sitting on the floor -- and promptly pulled out their notebooks and pens.
As the train pulled out of the station, their class began.
City trains, which have long had a dubious reputation for arriving late and hosting poorly behaved passengers, opened a new page in their history on Tuesday.
For the first time in railway company and Trisakti Higher School of Transportation Management history, a general lecture took place on board a moving train.
"We came up with the idea about a year ago, and basically we wanted to put theory into practice," said Permadi Satrio, head of the land transport student organization at the Trisakti Higher School of Transportation Management.
The lecture on train management, given inside a Ciliwung Blue Line train carriage, was attended by about 80 students from the school. The class lasted for almost three hours as the train circled the line twice from Manggarai in South Jakarta northward to Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta, Pasar Senen in Central Jakarta, and Jatinegara in East Jakarta, before returning to Manggarai.
The class featured guest lecturers such as Nuryadi Muchtar from the City Transportation Agency, Ahmad Sujadi from state railway company PT KA, Untung Rusadi Soekono from the Indonesian Railway Preservation Society (IPRS) and Antoni Labjar from the KRL (Electric Railway Train) Mania community group.
"Learning inside a moving train gives us a different sensation that makes us more involved in the learning process rather than just sitting in the classroom while listening to lectures," Permadi added.
He said students usually learned about transportation management without noticing the social conditions of the poor people who live beside the railway tracks.
"The livelihood of people living near the railway tracks makes for a new and interesting topic to discuss," he said.
Of course, there are some disadvantages to studying inside a moving train.
"The shaking of the train and the scenery outside makes it hard for me to concentrate, but it's refreshing," said Windy Adiningsih, a student in his fifth semester at the school.
Morris, another student, said it was a pity the train had arrived almost an hour late because it showed that the classic problem of arriving on time had not been solved.
Antoni Labjar, a guest lecturer from KRL Mania, said the innovation had shown that trains could offer more than just services but also historical value. (fmb)
