S

tate-owned railway operator PT KAI says it is the police’s responsibility to take legal action on train roof riders and claims that it has done all it can.

Spokesman for KAI’s Jakarta office, Agus Setijono, said the railway operator is obliged to ensure the safety of passengers, however, legal action should be left to the police.

Agus was referring to the 2007 Law on train transportation, which stipulates that roof riders could be jailed for three months if proven guilty.

“Our job is to prevent them from riding on the roof. We did that. But some passengers continue doing it,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

“Now, it is time for the police to enforce the law.”

Agus said that the operator had tried several measures to prevent passengers from riding on the train’s roof, including erecting barriers along the railway.

“We have tried to educate them, we tell them to get down at every station, we even forced them,” he said.

“But as you can see, they went mad instead and blamed us for not providing more space in the train,” he added.

In March, a joint task force involving KAI and the Depok Police mobile brigade accosted dozens of rooftop passengers on trains at Depok Lama station and made them get inside the train.

The raid, which lasted around two hours from 6:30 a.m., was considered a success.

Agus said that the people should understand and should find alternative means of transportation rather than forcing their way up.

On Monday, roof riders caused havoc at three stations after they were forced to get off.

The stations damaged were Depok, Tebet (South Jakarta) and Citayam (Depok), all on the Bogor-Jakarta commuter line.

Media reports showed that Citayam station experienced the worst damage as the short distance from the railway to the platform made it easier for roof riders to run amok.

Agus said that most of the roof riders took the train from Bojong and Citayam stations in Depok.

He said that those stations lacked sufficient staff to monitor the hundreds of passengers heading to Jakarta.

PT KAI said its decision to stop the economy-class service might have angered the passengers.

“It also results from our culture of paying less attention to danger,” Agus said.

Meanwhile, University of Indonesia (UI) transportation expert Tri Tjahjono echoed KAI and said the government was obliged to find a solution.

“They have to find out why these people are up there. It may be because of not wanting to pay, or because of space,” he said.

“Then the government can try to work on a new subsidy plan on this.”

Tri said that the operator wanted to ensure “safety first” for its passengers, hence, the decision to have the police take action.

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said police were already involved in securing train journeys by dispatching the Train Police (Polsuska).

“As for roof riders, the police and the railway operator need to cooperate and create a long term plan about this,” Rikwanto said, adding that his organization was ready to talk.

— JP/ Fikri Zaki Muhammadi