Hundreds of people stranded

JAKARTA: Hundreds of people waiting to take electric trains on the Serpong and Tanah Abang railway lines were left stranded on Tuesday due to a reduction of coaches by the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api.

"They (PT KAI) should know that more people want to take the electric trains today, being the first working day of the week," Antara quoted a man unable to board a four-coach train due to overcrowding.

He said that trains serving the track usually had eight coaches, enabling them to transport hundreds of passengers.

Antara reported that PT KAI has often reduced the number of train coaches without any explanation.

"They actually know that such a reduction will only cause many passengers to be stranded," the man was quoted as saying.

The news agency said that passengers were disappointed because PT KAI made no effort to solve the problem when the number of coaches was reduced and made no announcement about the coach reduction.--JP