Three officials of state railway company PT Kereta Api approach Wati, a middle-aged woman sitting on the floor of an economic train en route from Kota Station in Central Jakarta to Rangkasbitung Station in Banten.
“Your ticket please,” one of the officials urged her.
Wati, owner of a snack kiosk at nearby Serpong Station, opened her small black handbag and to the officers’ apparent surprise, hands over two Rp 1,000 (8 US cents) notes to the officials instead of a ticket.
“What are you doing? Where is your ticket?” Shout the officials, who eventually accepted the notes and walked away without turning back.
Fare evaders, who are only willing to pay for the ride if urged by the authorities, are common on the economy-class train despite the already affordable fare. The train line that connects Kota and Rangkasbitung travels as far as 80 kilometers and has a ticket price of Rp 1,500, regardless of the distance travelled.
“I often skip buying the ticket. We just need to pay on the train, but only if there’s an inspection,” said Wati, a mother of six.
“Most of the time, the officials take the money.”
In a train connecting Kota with Bekasi Station, guava seller Martono preferred to pay Rp 1,000 — instead of showing a ticket, which would have cost him Rp 1,500.
Martono avoided buying tickets as he had to carry a huge basket of fruits with him on the train, which would cost him extra at the ticket booth.
“It is easier to just pay on the train, because I don’t have to queue,” he said.
“I am not the only one, I think most of the passengers here pay on the train.”
Under Kereta Api regulations, passengers who are caught riding without a ticket are required to pay four times the fare price as a fine. However, the regulation is generally ignored even by the company’s officials who prefer to have the money flow into their own pockets.
The problem of fare evaders has been left unresolved for decades as most of the company’s officials make a profit from the practice, which compensates their low wages.
It may in fact be farmers who reap the most from the corrupt practices. They can transport their livestock and vegetables on the passenger train for a nominal kickback of less than Rp 10,000 to the officials.
Seeing passengers seated side by side with goats or with a tray of chickens during rush hour is a daily occurrence.
With this inherent culture of inaction in the face of blatant violations, passengers should not expect an enjoyable ride. Their safety and comfort is in no way guaranteed with sexual harassment and pick-pocketing happening on a daily basis.
“My relative used to be the victim of sexual harassment,” said Dewi, 18, a passenger of Kota-Rangkasbitung train.
“It would happen as she boarded a loaded coach. Suddenly, she would feel her breasts being groped by someone in the crush.”
Her story is not uncommon. Female passengers are especially prone to sexual harassment during peak hours, when hundreds of commuters jostle to get on and off each coach.
It is in these same conditions that pickpockets trawl for their victims. Everyday, there are dozens of passengers who arrive at Kota Station without their belongings, particularly their wallets or mobile phones.
“I once lost my mobile phone on the train, I only realized after I got off at a station in Jakarta,” said Dadang, 53, a resident of Maja, Banten.
On another occasion, he caught a man trying to make off with his wife’s handbag. “Luckily, I could help my wife get the bag back, and the thief ran away,” he said.
Coaches are also filled with beggars and street singers who often employ children to ignite passenger compassion.
Often these children are thrown out of the train for failing to meet their daily quota, a crime made easier by the fact that very few carriages have doors that close.
Vandals have ruined the automated doors, while teenage hoodlums often pelt passing trains with rocks, smashing windows and injuring unsuspecting passengers.
On the Kota-Rangkasbitung train on Wednesday, a middle-aged passenger stumbled through the aisle of the carraige holding his bleeding head.
“He was struck by a rock,” said a cigarette vendor who witnessed the incident.
In 2006, there was an incident along the Kota-Rangkasbitung route when a coach’s ceiling collapsed under the weight of passengers who had crowded onto the roof, injuring dozens of passengers inside.
Kereta Api spokesman Sugeng Supriyono admitted the difficulties the company faced ensuring security and safety on each train during rush hours.
“The train is overcrowded. We cannot watch over the passengers one by one,” he said, adding the company had security personnel assigned to every train.
“There are a minimal of four security officers on each train,” he said.
The company’s problems don’t end when the trains stop running
for the night. Parked trains at the Jatinegara Station in East Jakarta and at the Rangkasbitung Station have become a notorious location for the transvestite sex trade.
“The transvestites are prostitutes,” said Andika, a herbal medicine seller at the station. “Many of them have sex with their customers in the darkened coaches,” he said, adding the prostitution started at 11 pm when most of trains stopped operating.
The Rangkasjaya train which travel from Kota to Rangkasbitung is usually parked at the Rangkasbitung station after its last trip where it can soon be seen “rocking” sideways as the transvestites are in action. (rdf/not)
