Perumka raises fares for executive, business class
BANDUNG, West Java (JP): The state-owned railway company Perumka raises its fares today for executive and business class passengers, both for long and short-distance services in Java, by a range of one to 16 percent.
A Perumka spokesman, Soeprapto, said at the company's headquarters here yesterday that the highest rate increase of 16.66 percent will affect the business class fare of the Mutiara Timur service linking Surabaya in East Java and Denpasar in Bali, and the Parahyangan trains linking Jakarta and Bandung raising the ticket price from Rp 12,000 to Rp 14,000 each.
Passengers of Mutiara Timur are transported with a train from Surabaya to Banyuwangi at the eastern tip of Java and with a bus from Banyuwangi to Denpasar and vice versa.
The spokesman said the fare of the business class of the Jayabaya train linking Jakarta with Surabaya is to increase by 15.38 percent from Rp 26,000 to Rp 30,000.
The hikes of other services vary from 1.06 percent -- for the Mutiara Utara train linking Jakarta and Surabaya from Rp 94,000 to Rp 95,000 -- to 13.04 percent -- for the Mutiara Selatan linking Surabaya and Bandung from Rp 23,000 to Rp 26,000.
The chief of the Gambir railway station in Jakarta, Hadi Suseno, told The Jakarta Post Wednesday that the management of Perumka notified the chiefs of operation throughout the country of the new fares last week.
Soeprapto said yesterday that the hikes, as stipulated by an Oct. 28 decision of Perumka's president Anwar Supriadi, were made due to rises in maintenance costs and operational costs.
The spokesman said that the fares for cargo and economy class services would not be raised. "Only the government can raise the fares of both categories," he added.
Reasonable
Meanwhile, chairman of the Commission V of the House of Representative M. Diran said that the increased railway fares for non-economy classes were reasonable.
"I hope it will improve the service of Perumka," he said.
Commission V deals with transportation, telecommunications, public housing and public works.
Diran warned that the government must be very careful not to increase economy class fares in the near future as such a move may stir public unrest.
The new fares, which will affect 30 trains in Java, include those for the executive class of the Parahyangan trains (linking Jakarta with Bandung), set at Rp 25,000, the Senja Utama (Jakarta-Yogyakarta) at Rp 46,000 for the executive class and Rp 35,000 for the business class, Fajar Utama Semarang (Jakarta- Semarang) at Rp 42,000 for the executive class and Rp 31,000 for the business class, Depok Ekspres (Jakarta-Depok) at Rp 2,000, Pakuan (Jakarta-Bogor) Rp 4,000 for the executive class and Rp 3,000 for the business class.
According to Soeprapto, fares for six trains in South and North Sumatra, comprising Sriwijaya (Kertapati-Tanjung Karang), Rajabasa (Kertapati-Tanjung Karang), Sindang Marga (Lubuk Linggau-Kertapati), Fajar (Kertapati-Tanjung Karang), Bukit Sulap (Lubuk Linggau-Kertapati) and Sribilah Utama (Medan-Rantauprapat) have not been increased as the region's economy is still not as strong as Java's. (pet/icn)