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tate-owned railway company PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) officially launched on Monday a KRL Commuter Line train for women only, in an attempt to improve its service for female passengers.

KCJ spokesman Makmur Syaheran said that requests had mounted for the company to provide women-only trains, ever since the launch of women-only carriages in 2010. The special train will operate every day except on holidays with 10 trips per day, including during rush hours, running from Bogor to Kota and
Bogor to Jatinegara.

“At first, we’re providing one train with eight carriages. However, we are planning to add more trains to this service by early next year, so we have at least one women-only train on every commuter route,
including Bekasi–Jakarta and Parung Panjang–Tanah Abang,” Makmur told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Widyaningsih, 33, said that a special train for women was essential for female passengers to avoid harassment from men — something she had often experienced. “I feel much safer using this train because I don’t have to jostle with men and fear harassment. I really hope KAI will realize their plan to add more women-only trains,” Widyaningsih, an administrative employee, said.

Dwi Faziah, who travels by train every day from Kalibata, South Jakarta to Kota, West Jakarta, said that the women-only train was not really necessary to improve commuter services. “Using a women-only
train is nice and more convenient because it is not as crowded as regular trains.

However, improving services on the regular commuter trains — such as ensuring the schedules are kept and adding more journeys — is much more important,” Dwi, who works as a shopkeeper in Mangga Dua, Central Jakarta said. (nad)