Fewer passengers travel by train during holidays
Fewer passengers travel by train during holidays
JAKARTA (JP): Railway transportation experienced a decline in
the number of passengers this Idul Fitri season but earnings
rose, a railway official said Saturday.
"We projected a 10 percent increase in passengers this year
but the figure turned out lower," Jakarta chief of railway
company Perumka Eddy Sasongko told Antara.
He declined to specify by how much the number of passengers
dropped, saying he had yet to collect complete data.
Eddy said 26,070 people had traveled by rail by Thursday, a
rate lower than last year's 36,358 in the same period.
He said Senen train station was mostly quiet as there were
only 906 passengers yesterday afternoon. The number of passengers
only required regular trains, not the extra cars provided.
The railway company provided 10 regular railway cars and two
spare cars with a capacity of 3,000 passengers.
He stressed that his office did not experience losses in spite
of having fewer passengers because rate adjustments were made,
resulting in an increase of revenue by 15.7 percent.
Eddy cited this year's increased revenue over the five days of
the exodus reached Rp 1.5 billion (US$625,000) in comparison to
last year's sales of Rp 1.2 billion ($500,000) in the same
period.
He said the decrease was due to improved traffic control for
homegoers' transport, offering them alternatives including car
travel arranged by transport companies.
He said ticket sales reached 9,864 at 4 p.m. Saturday with
8,958 homegoers already departed while the remaining 906 awaited
evening departure. The homegoers were traveling to Kutoarjo, Solo
Balapan, Semarang, Surabaya and Pasar Tur.
In Bakauheni, Lampung director general of land transport Santo
Budiono ordered his area's traffic unit to anticipate and handle
the sudden increase of passengers returning from Sumatra to Java
after Idul Fitri.
Santo noted that the harbor was quiet because the exodus to
Sumatra had subsided.
He said the increases were difficult to determine because the
inflow of returnees from Sumatra to Java often came in large
groupings simultaneously as companies coordinate the return
schedules.
Should inflows to Java remain normal and quiet, Bakauheni will
experience a critical point on the last three days especially
heading toward the greater Jakarta area as many of the homegoers
would return at the same time, Santo said.
He said 18 ferries have been stationed at the four piers of
Bakauheni and Merak, along with six speedboats from PT Marina
Batam and four ships from PT Infiniti to anticipate large numbers
of passengers.
Naval ships have been brought in to Panjang harbor in Bandar
Lampung and the ship Utari will transport trucks until Feb. 20 .
Judging from field observations and media reports, Santo gave
a favorable overview of this year's handling of the traffic flow
for homegoers.
He cited good planning, commitment and coordination among
various government agencies. Ministry officials observed empty
buses at the harbor awaiting passengers. (01)
JAKARTA (JP): Railway transportation experienced a decline in
the number of passengers this Idul Fitri season but earnings
rose, a railway official said Saturday.
"We projected a 10 percent increase in passengers this year
but the figure turned out lower," Jakarta chief of railway
company Perumka Eddy Sasongko told Antara.
He declined to specify by how much the number of passengers
dropped, saying he had yet to collect complete data.
Eddy said 26,070 people had traveled by rail by Thursday, a
rate lower than last year's 36,358 in the same period.
He said Senen train station was mostly quiet as there were
only 906 passengers yesterday afternoon. The number of passengers
only required regular trains, not the extra cars provided.
The railway company provided 10 regular railway cars and two
spare cars with a capacity of 3,000 passengers.
He stressed that his office did not experience losses in spite
of having fewer passengers because rate adjustments were made,
resulting in an increase of revenue by 15.7 percent.
Eddy cited this year's increased revenue over the five days of
the exodus reached Rp 1.5 billion (US$625,000) in comparison to
last year's sales of Rp 1.2 billion ($500,000) in the same
period.
He said the decrease was due to improved traffic control for
homegoers' transport, offering them alternatives including car
travel arranged by transport companies.
He said ticket sales reached 9,864 at 4 p.m. Saturday with
8,958 homegoers already departed while the remaining 906 awaited
evening departure. The homegoers were traveling to Kutoarjo, Solo
Balapan, Semarang, Surabaya and Pasar Tur.
In Bakauheni, Lampung director general of land transport Santo
Budiono ordered his area's traffic unit to anticipate and handle
the sudden increase of passengers returning from Sumatra to Java
after Idul Fitri.
Santo noted that the harbor was quiet because the exodus to
Sumatra had subsided.
He said the increases were difficult to determine because the
inflow of returnees from Sumatra to Java often came in large
groupings simultaneously as companies coordinate the return
schedules.
Should inflows to Java remain normal and quiet, Bakauheni will
experience a critical point on the last three days especially
heading toward the greater Jakarta area as many of the homegoers
would return at the same time, Santo said.
He said 18 ferries have been stationed at the four piers of
Bakauheni and Merak, along with six speedboats from PT Marina
Batam and four ships from PT Infiniti to anticipate large numbers
of passengers.
Naval ships have been brought in to Panjang harbor in Bandar
Lampung and the ship Utari will transport trucks until Feb. 20 .
Judging from field observations and media reports, Santo gave
a favorable overview of this year's handling of the traffic flow
for homegoers.
He cited good planning, commitment and coordination among
various government agencies. Ministry officials observed empty
buses at the harbor awaiting passengers. (01)