KAI adds more cars to reduce passenger backlog<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT KAI railroad company has added
\nmore cars, or in some instances combined two train services, in
\nan effort to cut a huge backlog of passengers left stranded by
\ndisruptions to services earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
At Jakarta's main Gambir railway station, all trains traveling
\nfrom East Java arrived approximately seven hours later than
\nscheduled due to delays which KAI attributed to the derailment of
\na train in Purwokerto in Central Java on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"To reduce the number of passengers who are left stranded at
\nmany railway stations, we will combine two train services into
\none,\" KAI spokesman Gatot Wibowo told The Jakarta Post by
\ntelephone from Surabaya.<\/p>\n
The disruption occurred as millions of people were returning
\nfrom their villages back to the cities, including Jakarta, after
\nthe long Christmas\/Idul Fitri\/New Year holiday this week.<\/p>\n
Most of the holiday-makers traveled either by train or bus.<\/p>\n
Gatot said the Argo Wilis train service from Surabaya to
\nBandung left Surabaya on Wednesday morning with 10 cars, four
\nmore than usual, accommodating passengers from the Turangga
\nservices which had been canceled.<\/p>\n
KAI is also reorganizing all the trains at its disposal to
\nminimize the amount of waiting time for passengers, he said.<\/p>\n
While KAI has managed to clear the track near Purwokerto after
\na train was derailed there on Tuesday, the accident has severely
\ndisrupted the schedules of its train services.<\/p>\n
Gatot said the southern line was now back to normal. \"We will
\ndo our best to reduce the delays,\" he added.<\/p>\n
At the Pulogadung intercity bus station in East Jakarta, the
\ninflux of people returning to Jakarta from their home villages
\nwas also increasing.<\/p>\n
Some 53,233 people disembarked at the bus station on Tuesday,
\n15 percent more than the total on Monday, according to station
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, a long queue of vehicles and crowds of thousands
\nwere seen at bus terminals and the railway station, most of them
\npassengers from Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java who were
\nstopping-over en route to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that many of the passengers who left the West
\nJava capital were women and men aged between 16 and 22 years old.<\/p>\n
\"Many of them used the stations as a transit place before they
\ncontinued their trip to Jakarta,\" an official said.<\/p>\n
He added that among the crowds were apparently housemaids
\nreturning to the capital from their respective hometowns.<\/p>\n
Most housemaids were seen to have brought their relatives,
\ntoo, the news agency said.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta will probably be crowded with these migrants,\" the
\nofficer added.<\/p>\n
The crowds of passengers were busy queuing and struggling to
\nget on and off the vehicles leaving for Jakarta in Leuwipanjang,
\nKiaracondong and Kebon Kelapa bus terminals as well as in Bandung
\ntrain station.<\/p>\n
In Purwokerto, Central Java, the peak of the returning exodus
\nto Jakarta is expected to occur at midnight on Thursday.<\/p>\n
No less than 18,000 passengers thronged the Purwokerto train
\nstation, most of them heading for Jakarta, and 4,000 others in
\nthe Purwokerto bus terminal as of Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\"Most of them are housemaids and workers who work in Jakarta,\"
\na local reporter said.<\/p>\n
Many also failed to get train tickets and had to wait for the
\nSapu Jagat train.<\/p>\n
Purwokerto railway station's spokesman Supriadi said a total
\nof 21,707 passengers left the town as of 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 80
\npercent of them headed for Jakarta. Since Dec. 17, almost 149,000
\nleft Purwokerto for various destinations during the festive
\nseason.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile over 300 passengers bound to Jakarta were stranded
\nat Cilegon railway station on Wednesday; most of them had been
\nwaiting for their train since Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Station head, Purwono, said the station had seen a drastic
\nincrease of passengers since Tuesday, mostly students who
\ncelebrated the New Year in several resorts near the Sunda Strait.<\/p>\n
They spent the night along the terrace of the station under
\npolice protection.<\/p>\n
Purwono said the station had never provided extra trains for
\nthe passengers during holiday seasons.<\/p>\n
The passengers eventually were transported by an economy class
\ntrain plying the Ranskasbitung-Jakarta route later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In Cirebon, West Java, Antara reported that at least 10 people
\nhave died along the northern road of Java due to traffic
\naccidents during the two-week festive exodus.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the victims were killed in the accident-prone area of
\nthe northern road stretching from Indramayu to Cirebon,\"
\nIndramayu Police chief Supt. Setyo Wasisto said. (04\/45\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kai-adds-more-cars-to-reduce-passenger-backlog-1447893297",
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