Having bragging rights as the first city in the country to operate the light rapid transit (LRT), Palembang seems to have to wait for some time for the modern transportation system to work normally. But not everybody, including the government, is patient enough.

Built with the aim of providing greater mobility to the public wishing to watch sports events during the Asian Games, which the South Sumatra capital is cohosting, the new mode of transportation has been plagued with long lines of passengers at major stations and long intervals between trains.

The logjam was particularly visible outside Jakabaring Station in front of Jakabaring Sport City (JSC), where the athletes village and sport venues are concentrated. It takes just around 15 minutes to reach JSC from the Palembang city center, but lining up for tickets and waiting for trains to arrive extends a passenger’s trip to around one hour.

The afternoon is worse, when the crowd goes back home from the venues.

Rizal and his son were seen lining up for LRT tickets at Jakabaring Station after attending tennis matches on Sunday afternoon. At times he checked if his son was fine, after they waited about 30 minutes.

“Are you fine? We can take [ride-hailing app] GrabCar if you want,” Rizal asked his son, who responded that he did not mind waiting because he wanted to feel the experience of traveling on the LRT.

But finally Rizal, as well as many other passengers, gave up after an official with the LRT announced that the next train would be available in another 30 minutes.

“That’s too long. I have to take another mode of transportation,” a woman grumbled.

The Palembang LRT, which uses a 24-kilometer track from the airport to JSC, opened to the public early this month after undergoing a series of trial runs. During the Asian Games, the LRT operator is giving away a number of free tickets to passengers wanting to watch the sport. Each station has a quota of free tickets.

The government had rushed the LRT construction in order for the train to operate during the Asian Games. Another LRT project is undergoing trial runs in Jakarta.

At Jakabaring Station, which is among the most crowded stations along with the airport station, passengers have to line up for free tickets. Another line awaits when they head to the train platform above. In total it takes them an hour on average to board a train.

The Palembang LRT itself has also faced some technical problems. Last week, an LRT train broke down, prompting all its passengers to disembark and walk around 2 km to a nearby station. It happened after many foreign athletes had arrived in Palembang for the Asian Games.

Authorities said the technical glitch was acceptable because the LRT was still in the testing process. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said recently that the testing had run for just three months, while normally it took six months.

“Normally during the commissioning [testing] process, technical glitches will unfold. We will evaluate [the problems] and will fix them accordingly,” Budi said.

Budi expects the Palembang LRT to operate properly in early September when the management stops giving out free tickets.

“The testing process will be complete when not even a small technical problem occurs,” train director general Zulfikri said.

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