KAI faces rail travel challenges

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

"The moment I hear the word train, I think only of filth, chaos and neglect," a government official told the president director of state-owned train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Omar Berto recently.

That official is not the only critic. In fact, the mounting criticisms have become the main topic of discussion among KAI officials and others in the government, while disgruntled passengers could also tell of their own negative experiences; from vile toilets and poor service to delays and thievery on the trains.

Omar acknowledged recently that his company was in a state of disarray. The company's facilities have gradually declined over the last 59 years since independence. For example, the length of the rail network in Java during the Dutch colonial era in 1939 was 6,811 kilometers, but that number dropped to 6,096 kilometers by 1955 and has continued dropping to the current 4,185 kilometers. In a period of just six decades, the network has shrunk 41 percent. This also goes for the number of train locomotives. In 1939, there were 1,314 locomotives, but now there are just 530.

There are only 571 railway stations still in operation compared to nearly three times that -- 1,516 -- in the 1930s.

Omar said that the number of passengers had also declined. In 1955, when the population of Java and Madura islands was 54.5 million, the total number of passengers traveling by train was 146.9 million a year.

But now, even though the population of the two islands has more than doubled to 126 million people, there are only 42 million passengers each year taking the trains. The company is facing a tough task to increase the number of passengers, especially since 2000, when the airline industry opened up and became a fierce competitor for the government train company by offering better services, and in some cases lower fares.

Much of the blame for the shrinking rail network can be put on the construction of numerous highways. Extensive road construction between several cities like the Bandung to Cirebon via Kadipaten and Banjar to Cijulang highways in West Java prompted KAI to drop those train routes.

The Madiun-Ponorogo line in East Java and the Semarang-Demak line stopped functioning in 1986 for similar reasons.

KAI also has a lot of problems in the area of service and safety. The average speed of trains, which was more than 100 kilometers per hour (kph) in the 1980s dropped below 95 kph in 2002. According to KAI operations director, Juda Sitepu, the average speed at the moment is just 85 kph (or 53 miles per hour).

Train derailments have increased by a whopping 73 percent (69 incidents) in the first half of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003.

Train accidents have increased 12 percent in the first semester of this year compared to last year's figure.

A total of 128 train mishaps during the first six months of 2004 have claimed the lives of 48 people and severely injured 68 others -- an average of nearly five victims per week between January and June this year. In the first six months of 2003, 27 people were killed and 29 seriously wounded in train accidents.

With such a poor track record, should KAI still be allowed to run the train system in Indonesia?

Juda Sitepu said that KAI had become more proactive in trying to work out the problems.

KAI recently began addressing some of the problems to make it more efficient. One thing they have done is to change strategy by concentrating on shorter routes. "We want to focus on the short and medium distances to avoid head-on competition with the booming airline industry, which is offering low fares," said Juda.

Besides that, KAI has explicitly ventured into the property business by leasing their idle land assets to developers.

Around 0.11 percent, or 300,000 square meters idle land throughout the country has been leased out for a minimum of 30 years.

Another measure taken was that they entrusted the parking management to a third party. The Gambir station parking management, which regularly faced huge losses while under the control of KAI employees previously, is now being managed by a private foundation.

"Revenues from parking were just embezzled by our own employees. The company only received Rp 2 million per month. After being managed by the third party, we receive Rp 30 million per month just from Gambir," said Juda.