For decades, boarding the Greater Jakarta trains has been nothing less than an exercise in endurance and suffering as a result of the protracted lack of seriousness and sincerity by policy makers and state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api. An improvement of rail services is badly needed to help reduce the capital’s increasingly awful traffic jams caused by an increase in private motor vehicles. The Jakarta Post digs deeper into the issue. Here are the stories:
As speakers at Kota railway station in Central Jakarta announced the departure of the Kota-Rangkasbitung train, hundreds of passengers jostled to board the already packed carriages, to have one foot caught in the automated doors.
A lot of them end up standing between the coaches’ partition.
Despite passengers already packing the train like canned sardines, the train still stops at each of the next major stations — Tanah Abang, Palmerah, and Kebayoran — to pack in more passengers before heading to Rangkasbitung in Banten.
Those who could not get inside scrambled onto the roof, keeping their head low and away from the high-voltage electric cable hovering less than 1 meter above them. An average of 20 passengers are electrocuted each year by the cables.
The Kota-Rangkasbitung is among the most crowded routes in the Greater Jakarta railway network, posing as a stark example of the ongoing mismanagement of the country’s railway service.
Serving around 80 kilometers of railway line, tickets are very affordable at just Rp 1,500 (16 US cents) for economy class and Rp 4,000 for semi-express. The prices are heavily subsidized by state railway company PT Kereta Api.
With such prices, the train is favored by low and middle-income earners, including farmers who regularly use the service to transport their vegetables and cattle to traditional markets across Greater Jakarta without having to worry about paying extra to move their goods.
“We prefer the train because it is cheaper than taking a bus,” said Dadang, 53, who regularly travels between Jakarta and Rangkasbitung.
“If we take a bus, we have to spend about Rp 15,000 to 20,000,” he said, adding it was also faster taking the train than a public bus.
Although generally affordable, a lot of passengers regularly evade paying at all.
Fare evaders are one of the biggest problems facing Kereta Api. While no efforts are seen to in order to resolve the problem, losses will continue to undermine the company’s efforts to improve services amid the company’s repeated calls for more government money to stay afloat.
With all that is lacking, it is not surprising that passenger security and safety are not taken care of.
Doors are not closed when the train is running, enabling people to stand with half of their bodies hanging out of the coach.
Fortunately for passengers, air circulation in the carriages is very good. Not due to state-of-the-art air conditioning, rather because of the broken windows.
“Sometimes people throw rocks at passing trains, breaking windows and often injuring passengers,” said a middle-aged cigarette vendor.
Passengers can find almost anything on the train, from vegetables vendors to chicken sellers, whose wares leave stretching stains of dung on the floor.
There are also no safety grips available to standing passengers, or barriers to keep passengers from falling through partitions.
“The poor service is largely due to the low fees on economy class trains,” said Kereta Api spokesman Sugeng Supriyono.
“Windows and doors are supposed to be there, but they have been destroyed by vandals.”
Poor service can be found along other routes. The Kota-Bekasi economy-class line, although less agonizing than Kota-Rangkasbitung, is a hotbed of pickpockets and perverts lingering around the train during morning and evening rush hours.
The Kota-Depok line is no different, with cases of extortion and sexual abuse often reported.
Aside from the trains themselves, commuters endure mental torture on arrival at most train stations in Jakarta’s suburbs.
The disparity of facilities between stations is among the biggest problems for commuters. Several stations such as Kota, Tanah Abang and Serpong have modern and well-constructed buildings supported by proper facilities such as toilets, prayer rooms and waiting-chairs.
However, upon arriving at the Parungpanjang station, passengers are brought to a whole different world.
The Station is built in the middle of a traditional market and backs onto a pile of garbage. At night the platform is not lit at all, allowing criminals to lurk in the shadows.
Chairman of railway forum of the Indonesian Transportation Society Djoko Setijowarno said financial problems were not the sole reason for poor facilities.
“The problem is the lack of willingness by the government to revitalize the railway facilities.”
The latest train accident within the Greater Jakarta network occurred in mid last year between Manggarai and Tebet stations in Central Jakarta, injuring two passengers and one Kereta Api official.
The network has not seen a major accident in more than 20 years , with the worst occurred in 1987 along Bintaro railway in South Jakarta, killing more than 100 passengers.
It was only in 2008 that the government allocated Rp 19 trillion for three years to revitalize the rail system across the country. Greater Jakarta’s network accounts for around 20 percent of that fund.
Since 2008, the government has also planned to allow private investors take over management of Greater Jakarta’s railway’s from Kereta Api to improve services.
However, the plan remains unrealized as private investment is scared off by various legal constrains in the sector.
According to Sugeng, the government is also to blame as they are responsible for providing sufficient railway infrastructure through state investment.
The Greater Jakarta lines currently move around 400,000 passengers a day, up by 23 percent from 325,000 last year. Around one million passengers are expected by 2012 and three million in 2014.
Railway facilities continually fail to accommodate the rising demand, with train frequency at stations at the pitiful average of 40 minutes.
Transportation expert Soegijapranata from Semarang Catholic University suggested the ideal frequency be every 10 minutes in order to keep up with an increasing passenger numbers.
Kereta Api plans 569 trips this year, up from 480 last year to keep up with the rising demand.
To achieve the target, the company will import 40 used electric-train coaches from Japan, most of which were made between 1980s and 1990s.
“But to have that capacity, Kereta Api should improve its communication signal system first,” said Soegijapranata.
Increasing the existing double tracks and procuring new engines are also necessary.
“Most of locomotives are between 30 to 40 years old and no longer reliable,” said Djoko. (rdf/not)
Orient Express?: Passengers force their way inside an already packed train en route to Rangkasbitung Station in Banten, from Palmerah Station, Central Jakarta, on Monday. For decades, passengers have had to endure overcrowded trains in the city and Greater Jakarta. JP/J. Adiguna
