T

he Jakarta Police have arrested six people for allegedly vandalizing an air-conditioned coach at Kota Station in West Jakarta and causing Rp 950 million (US$105,000) in damages.

Taman Sari Police chief Sr. Comr. Aloysius Supriyadi said the suspects were passengers who were upset about delays during the trial run for state railway company PT Kereta Api’s (KA) new commuter line last month.

“They were angry over a two-hour delay during the trial,” he said.

Police said the suspects would be charged under the Criminal Code for vandalism, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and under Law No. 23/2007, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment.

One of the suspects was reportedly a 15-year-old who confessed to throwing rocks at the carriage.

Officer have questioned 11 witnesses and are looking for more suspects.

Arief Haryadi, KA’s deputy head for Operational Area I, said the arrests would have a deterrent effect, adding that there had been 20 attacks on KA coaches since January.

The state rail operator launched its Commuter Line system on July 2, with trains stopping at almost two dozen stations in the Greater Jakarta area, ending the operation of express, air-conditioned trains.

Previously air-conditioned express trains stopped only at a few major stations.

The Commuter Line system was implemented to increase KA’s local passenger load to over the current level of 400,000 passengers a day.

Under the new system there will be two classes of commuter trains serving Greater Jakarta: the commuter line and subsidized economy trains.

KA also decided to lower the ticket prices for air-conditioned trains.

Under the new system KA will run 460 trains over 16 routes and plans to deploy an additional 130 carriages.

Despite KA’s promises of increased efficiency, commuters have groused about longer trips.

During the trial, passengers complained about lengthy delays as conductors were told to stop for five minutes at every station to allow more passengers to embark and disembark.

The Jakarta Police deployed about 500 officers to secure the trial run of the Commuter Line.