Akbar and Asari, both 15-year-old junior high students, clutched their backpacks and sprinted to catch an economy-class train pulling out of Manggarai station in South Jakarta.

The train was moving as they easily scrambled to the top of the carriage.

“What a brave kid,” Andi, 34, said while watching the teens.

Andi, a resident of Bogor, West Java, said he was a frequent rooftop rider until he was 28.

However, the state-railway operator is looking to end rooftop riding — much to the dismay of thrill-seekers who travel atop electric commuter trains, as well as those who are reluctant to pay the fare or fight for seats inside.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) has displayed huge posters at stations in Jakarta, Depok and Bogor, advising that rooftop riding was prohibited and that offenders faced three months in jail and a Rp 15 million (US$1,755) fine.

PT KAI also started to spray rooftop riders with reportedly non-toxic paint last week, a deterrent measure that was met by a riot at Manggarai station on Friday.

In the incident, station officers were pelted with stones by passengers riding on the roof of a carriage during rush hour at 6:30 a.m.

“It is so nice to be on the roof, especially in the morning. The air is fresh,” Andi said, conceding that the practice was indeed very dangerous. “The scenery is also breathtaking. Seeing the morning sun always calmed my nerves.”

PT KAI claims an average of three passengers a month are injured or killed by electrocution on the roofs and one passenger is injured or killed falling from the roof of a moving train.

East Jakarta resident and regular commuter Rukiyani, 51, said that she once saw a rooftop rider get electrocuted.

“His body was burned black and stuck to the pantograph,” Rukiyani said, referring to the 1500-volt device connecting the train to its power cables.

Officials installed boards with nails near pantographs to keep people from harm.

Akbar said one of his friends fell into the gap between coaches while rooftop riding about two years ago.

“He was dragged by the train,” Akbar said, hospitalized and, eventually, survived.

Another rooftop rider, Bogor resident Fajar Hermawan, 16, had a more grim tale.

“I was riding on the roof with four friends. We got into it with some people from another group. My friends and I fell. Three of my friends hit the concrete and died,” he said.

“Since that accident, I haven’t ridden on the rooftop. I learned my lesson,” he said.

Fajar, who suffered a broken leg in the fall, paid dearly for the lesson. The boy, who works as a parking attendant, can no longer walk or run normally.

“I became a target for bullies because of this in senior high school. I couldn’t take all the mocking from my friends so I quit school,” he said.

PT KAI said it sells approximately 511,000 economy train tickets for
Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,000 a day. (aaa)

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