Life is hard when driving a train
Life is hard when driving a train
By Sri Muninggar Saraswati
JAKARTA (JP): Many kids love traveling by train. They can have
so much fun inside the carriages, they can even walk from one to
another. Therefore, train seats are always fully booked,
especially during holidays.
Some of the kids might wish to become train engineers someday
when they grow up. However, they may not realize the high risk
awaiting them if they choose that profession. An engineer is
responsible for the safety of hundreds of passengers as far as
their destination.
Fifty-two-years-old Yanto, an engineer of state-owned railway
company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), said he must be fully
alert to operate the locomotive and observe all the signals along
the railway during a journey.
"It's not easy. I feel like a robot. I don't move from my
cabin even if I want to pee," he said, adding that he always
carries an empty bottle during working hours as he is banned from
leaving the cabin.
Yanto said an engineer must follow train operation rules,
including those that cover speed in particular places and the
priority regarding which goes first when two trains meet at
certain points.
However, the engineer's high concentration does not always
guarantee their safety. Slum areas can frequently be found
alongside railway lines -- especially in large cities like
Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya -- and passing them demands extra
concentration.
"I have to be extra-careful when passing such places," said
Madi. He slows down when approaching slum areas so that the
occupants will not throw rocks at the carriage windows.
Most engineers have experienced hitting someone or a vehicle
full of passengers in crowded areas or at a crossroad without a
gate.
Forty-six-years-old Kurniadi expressed his guilt after he
struck a man in Padalarang, causing his death.
"I think it's better to kill one man than jeopardize the lives
of hundreds of my passengers," he asserted, saying a sudden stop
could cause a train to derail.
Kurniadi emphasized the fact that a train cannot stop
immediately. It takes hundreds meters to come to a complete halt
after he pulls the brake.
The high risk demands that they prepare the train -- the
locomotive, engine car and passenger carriages -- two hours
before departure.
Gito, 48, illustrated that after the two-hour preparation, he
had to take a train from Gambir station in Central Jakarta to
Tugu station in Yogyakarta, a journey that took over nine hours.
He deserves time to rest in the destination station -- the
train driver lounge belonging to PT KAI -- before going back to
Jakarta. Once a week, Gito, like other engineers, has a day off.
PT KAI's Jakarta operation spokesman Zainal Abidin said
engineers work on a shift basis and each of them is supposed to
drive for at least seven hours.
"They don't work like people at a manufacturing plant; they
work to a timetable established by PT KAI. Therefore, they don't
get fixed holidays."
PT KAI currently has 1,600 trains serving 1,300 routes, but
the company has insufficient engineers, although Zainal declined
to elaborate.
Does that mean becoming an engineer is easy? Apparently not.
PT KAI has established training standards for newly recruited
engineers and each of them must attend the school in Yogyakarta
for two years.
With such a high level of responsibility, do engineers get
well paid? Fifty-years-old Iya, who has been serving PT KAI for
20 years, earns a salary of Rp 1 million (US$110) per month. A
figure which is definitely too small to survive in Jakarta.
The father of two children admitted that his salary was not
enough to feed his family. Luckily, his wife earns extra money by
running a food stall at his home.
Iya, whose 24-year-old eldest daughter got married, is hoping
to provide a better education for his son, currently in high
school, by sending him to university.