More train cars for Xmas, New Year

JAKARTA: As the Christmas and New Year holidays draw near, state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia said that it had prepared more train cars to cater for an expected increase in passengers during the festivities.

"We will increase the length of trains to between eight and 10 cars ahead of the celebrations from the current six to seven cars," spokesman Ahmad Sujadi was quoted as saying by the Tempointeraktif.com news portal on Saturday.

Ahmad said that the company estimated that the number of passengers would increase by 10 percent, adding that the numbers traveling would be less than during the Idul Fitri holiday in November.

"That's why we have no immediate plans to put on more trains," he said.

According to Ahmad, the company had started taking reservations for trains departing over the holidays.

"So far, around 30 percent of the seats are still vacant. The ticket price will only increase slightly," he said. However, he did not specify by exactly how much. --JP