Commuter trains, why not?

Provisional results of the investigation into the June 30 train crash in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, indicates that human error was behind the fatal wreck that claimed four lives.

A team set up by Minister of Communications Hatta Radjasa provisionally concluded that the driver of the commuter train, which rammed a parked Pakuan Express train, missed stopping at a red light.

If that's the case, then this is obvious evidence that "human error" is the cause of most train accidents in this country.

Records from state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) in 2004 indicated that 37 crashes -- 30 between trains and vehicles at railway crossings, and seven train vs train collisions -- were the result of "human error."

For such an old and large company human error must surely mean mismanagement. Mismanagement starts in the smaller things such as a lack of punctuality, cleanliness, financial accountability, and most importantly, passenger safety.

There has never been any survey undertaken to examine in detail the budgets and annual deficits -- to the tune of billions of rupiah -- suffered by PT KAI, and whether this is a part of a pattern of mismanagement.

We have all seen how passengers have to cram themselves into carriages of the commuter trains during morning or afternoon peak hours, while others have to cling to the doors or windows, or even sit on the roof, risking life and limb.

PT KAI Greater Jakarta division once revealed that poor maintenance caused by inefficiency of maintenance crews was their only major problem internally. Crews were only able to service two carriages every five months, instead of three or four as required, for no clear reason. This led to the fact that one- third of around 400 cars had been taken off the tracks, mostly because of old age and lack of maintenance.

With continuous traffic gridlock on the streets of the capital, commuter trains could actually become a solution to the city's transportation needs.

Any mass rapid transportation system (MRT) the administration plans to build at some stage in the future would do well to expand on the city's existing railway network.

PT KAI's Greater Jakarta division operates at least 150 carriages that are capable of carrying 450,000 passengers a day, meaning that -- if managed properly -- commuter trains could function as one part of the MRT service.

However, to make that happen, political will must exist to change the Jakarta administration's attitude toward train services.

The administration has shown too much bias towards ground transportation and to accommodating the needs of private motorists, with not nearly enough attention being paid to users of public transportation.

Hundreds of kilometers of urban toll roads have been built in Jakarta over the last two decades. Recently, the administration decided to build seven more new turnpikes, totaling 85.3 kilometers, instead of giving priority to the establishment of an MRT system.

The new toll roads effectively only accommodate car owners, now totaling at least 1.5 million people, while almost 3 million motorcyclists have to use other non-toll roads everyday. These figures show that millions of people need public transport to and from their work place everyday.

By contrast, how much new additional railway track has been constructed?

It is acknowledged that investment represents a serious hurdle in railway services. Constructing one kilometer of railway track costs at least Rp 5 billion (US$513,000), while the cost of purchasing and operating a train carriage can reach more than Rp 70 billion. Therefore, huge investment is required to build and operate a commuter train service, and this seems to have been too expensive for the private sector to handle without government subsidies.

Once again, political will must exist to make the city administration make proper use of the commuter train network to serve millions of passengers.

It's time for the central government -- in cooperation with the Jakarta administration -- to become involved in the management of PT KAI in general, and in Greater Jakarta division in particular, to make the existing commuter train network a part of MRT system.

We should start to exploit the potential of commuter trains to provide inexpensive, efficient, fast and comfortable means of public transportation.