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Jakarta Post

Bekasi no longer served by airport train

All change please: A banner at Bekasi Station in West Java informs the public that, starting on Sept

Maria Michelle Angela (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, September 14, 2019

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Bekasi no longer served by airport train

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ll change please: A banner at Bekasi Station in West Java informs the public that, starting on Sept. 8, the airport train no longer serves passengers from the station traveling to or from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.(JP/P.J.Leo)

College student Geofanni Nerissa, 20, could not contain her disappointment over the news that the airport train service provided by operator PT Railink will stop operations from Bekasi, West Java, to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

Having used it several times, she lauded the airport train for its excellent service and affordable price.

“I’m quite disappointed about this news. For me, personally, the airport train is the best mode of transportation to Soekarno-Hatta airport,” the East Bekasi resident said on Friday.

She added that the train was her preferred option not only for its good service and comfortable cars but also its punctuality, which helped her manage her schedule when catching flights.

Although she admitted to sometimes using her family’s car to get to the airport, she said she needed to plan for more time if she traveled by car, given Bekasi’s notorious gridlock.

Another Bekasi resident who lives in Bintara, Elisabeth Ananda Eka Bonita, or Nanda, 23, said the airport train had been a great help for her to get to and from Soekarno-Hatta airport.

A frequent traveler, she flies at least once or twice a month to visit her parents in Makassar, South Sulawesi, or her siblings in Semarang, Central Java. She said Railink was practical for her, although she would have liked more trips per day between the airport and Bekasi.

Despite being a frequent user of the service from Jakarta, she had only used it a handful of times directly from Bekasi, as trains going all the way through Jakarta to serve Bekasi only run after midday and in the afternoon.

“My flights are usually in the morning or evening,” she said, adding that she would usually take a taxi from Bekasi to BNI City Station in Central Jakarta, before heading to the airport with the airport train.

She said she would have made more use of the service directly from Bekasi had the operator added trips in the morning or evening. Nanda regretted that the operator decided to halt the operation instead of expanding the service.

PT Railink, a subsidiary of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), ended operations on the Bekasi-Soekarno Hatta airport route on Sunday.

The firm’s spokeswoman, Diah Suryandari, said the decision was aimed at optimizing the airport train operations at Manggarai Station in South Jakarta, as it would later function as a hub for airport trips.

“The operational halt is temporary. The company is looking at the possibility of reopening the route in the future,” Diah said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

She did not elaborate.

Launched on June 19 last year, the airport train serving Bekasi to Soekarno-Hatta airport initially departed from Bekasi every day at 10:05 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 1:13 p.m. and 2:11 p.m.

Trains from the airport to Bekasi would initially leave at 7:50 a.m., 8:50 a.m., 10:50 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. every day.

The fare for the service was initially set at Rp 60,000 (US$4.30), before being increased to Rp 100,000 per trip. However, to boost ridership, Railink offered a 50 percent discount to bring the price down to Rp 50,000.

The service was used not only by those traveling specifically to the airport but also general commuters traveling to Jakarta or Tangerang.

The decision to cease operations on the Bekasi route is the latest blow to the operation of the Jakarta airport train, which has struggled to gain passengers since it was launched in January last year.

The train used to make 78 trips daily to and from the airport from four stations: Bekasi, Batuceper Station in Tangerang, BNI City in Central Jakarta and Duri Station in West Jakarta. Duri Station was added on Dec. 20, 2018, to meet an expected surge in passenger numbers during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Railink acting president director Mukti Jauhari said last month that the average number of passengers was 4,400 per day, kompas.com reported. The company expects a boost to 15,000 passengers per day with the operation of the Manggarai route to the airport.

The Transportation Ministry has not yet launched the Manggarai-airport route, despite announcing earlier this year that it would soon start operations.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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