Following a glitch that disrupted economy commuter trains last week, state-run railway company PT KAI will temporarily recall two economy commuter trains from Bogor and Bekasi to Jakarta for maintenance
ollowing a glitch that disrupted economy commuter trains last week, state-run railway company PT KAI will temporarily recall two economy commuter trains from Bogor and Bekasi to Jakarta for maintenance.
“The trains stall too often, so we will carry out some repairs,” Mateta Rizalulhaq, the spokesman of PT KAI’s Operational Area I, said as quoted by tempo.com on Saturday.
He said that the trains would be replaced by two air-conditioned commuter line trains because there were no additional economy class trains. The replacement will serve a total of 20 routes that the economy trains previously plied.
Mateta said that with the replacement would also come an adjustment in ticket prices.
“Because we will use commuter line trains, the price will also be different. But it also means better service,” he said.
Economy train tickets cost Rp 2,000 (21 US cents), while commuter line tickets run more than triple the price at Rp 7,000 per trip.
Mateta said that he could not predict how long the maintenance would take.
There are 12 economy trains and 25 commuter line trains that serve a total of 531 routes across Greater Jakarta.
Separately, a spokesman of commuter-line operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ), Makmur Syaheran, said that the replacement was necessary so the company could continue serving passengers.
“We will conduct the maintenance as best as we can. But we can’t just neglect the passengers, so we are replacing [the trains],” he said. Last week, hundreds of commuters bound for Jakarta were stranded for several hours after a glitch disrupted economy trains between Bogor and Jakarta.
The disruption was caused by a broken pantograph on a train at the Tanjung Barat station in South Jakarta, causing the operator to switch off the electric current overhead, causing delays to other trains behind.
Pantographs are the hinged devices seen atop commuter-train carriages that are used to connect to overhead power lines.
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