Lebaran tickets sell out in a wink

YOGYAKARTA: Executive-class train tickets for Yogyakarta to Jakarta for post-Idul Fitri travel sold out just days after the tickets went on sale at the Tugu station.

"This year we put the executive-class tickets on sale a month ahead of Idul Fitri. We started to sell them on Nov. 1 and all the tickets for Nov. 28 to Nov. 30 departures are sold out," Purnomo, head of public relations at state-owned train company PT KAI in Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta Post earlier this week.

Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, falls on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 this year. In previous years, train tickets went on sale only seven days prior to the holiday.

This year, however, only business-class tickets are being held back for sale seven days before Idul Fitri. Economy-class tickets will be sold only on the day of departure.

Purnomo said that to prevent illegal brokers from buying up the tickets, customers were required to show their ID when purchasing tickets.

"PT KAI will form a special team to check that the names on the tickets match the names of the passengers carrying them. The team will ask people to show their IDs," he said, adding that violators would be required to buy new tickets or be forced to leave the train. -- JP