KAI seizes 1,060 fake rail tickets

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: State-owned railway company PT KAI has confiscated 1,060 fake tickets from middlemen operating at Kutoardjo station, about 100 kilometers east of here.

KAI's Purwokerto office spokesman, Supriyadi, said on Thursday that besides uncovering the counterfeit tickets, KAI also arrested three people suspected of being involved in the fraud.

He said the fraud was discovered after counterfeit tickets were given by passengers to the ticketing staff.

"The investigation was later intensified with the help of security officers, and over 1,000 tickets were confiscated from passengers," Supriyadi said.

He said most of the counterfeit tickets were held by economy- class passengers of the Sawunggalih trains plying the Kutoarjo- Senen (in Jakarta) route.

Supriyadi said that besides the ticket falsification, the railway company was also burdened by many illegal passengers.

A number of illegal passengers caught were security officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police.

"We find this condition to be a major obstacle because on the one hand we are trying to enforce the law, but on the other hand the security officers say they have no money," he said.

"The many illegal passengers have caused KAI to suffer big losses. For every 10 illegal passengers who manage to ride the executive class, for example, the company suffers losses of more than Rp 1 million (US$105)," he said, estimating that out of every 1,000 passengers, 100 do not have tickets. (45/08)