Thousands take advantage of cheap train tickets
JAKARTA (JP): More than 16,000 people left the city yesterday, taking advantage of discounted train tickets offered by the state railway company (Perumka) over a 24-hour period.
Perumka provided discounts of up to 70 percent, valid until 5 a.m. today, to encourage people to leave early rather than be trapped in the peak of the massive exodus during the Idul Fitri holiday.
As of 8 p.m. last night, Perumka's data showed that 16,411 passengers had departed from Senen, Manggarai and Kota train stations, all in Central Jakarta.
The director of Perumka, Soemino Ekosaputro, told The Jakarta Post that his company had prepared 222 economy-class trains to cope with the growing number of Idul Fitri holidaymakers leaving the city.
"The 70 percent discount is meant for people who want to go to Central and East Java. The discounted ticket price is set at between Rp 1,500 (18 U.S. cents) and Rp 4,500," he said.
Of the 16,411 passengers, 9,272 left from Senen Train Station, 3,794 from Manggarai station and 3,345 from Kota station.
"We prepared 45 trains -- each with 11 cars -- at the three stations today (Tuesday) to cope with the large number of passengers," Soemino said.
The trains deployed yesterday had a capacity to transport a total of 90,000 people, he said.
Train passengers leaving Jakarta during last year's Idul Fitri exodus reached some 41,000 people per day.
He said the company had increased its capacity by 17 percent this year.
"So don't worry, we'll have enough trains for everyone," he said, adding that Perumka had prepared another 100 cars for the Sapu Jagat train to transport any passengers left behind at stations.
Perumka also announced that tickets for the executive class could only be reserved a week before Idul Fitri.
"We want to guarantee that the trains will be fully occupied. To make it efficient, we'll also provide stand-by tickets that can be bought directly from all station," he said.
Based on the Post's observations, passengers started swamping Senen station in the afternoon.
Rusdi, a passenger heading to Kutoarjo, Central Java, said he preferred to go back to his hometown yesterday because of the cheap tickets.
"Besides, I don't have anything to do here. My wife and kids have already gone home to Java," the 44-year-old bakso (meatball) seller said.
The number of Jakartans traveling to other cities for the Idul Fitri celebration from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27 is projected to reach some 3.5 million, up from about 3.05 million in the corresponding period last year, an official said yesterday.
The director general of land transportation, Santo Budiono, said that despite the monetary crisis, people's eagerness to go back to their hometowns was still running high.
"Logically, more people coming to Jakarta means more people to return to their hometowns during the festive season," he said during an inspection at Senen Train Station.
It is predicted that there will be 22 million holidaymakers leaving the city this year, based on a calculation which takes into consideration the number of people coming in and going out of Jakarta, he said.
"We don't calculate mobilization based on a one-way trip. We count it based on the comings and goings of people through Jakarta's traffic system. Last year, the number reached 19.8 million people," he said.
The head of City Land Transportation Agency, JP Sepang, said the agency would put plainclothes officers on buses to avoid illegal charges being added to bus tickets.
Sepang said the action was taken because some bus companies illegally added extra charges along the way.
Staff would remain on buses until Cirebon in West Java, unlike last year when they disembarked at Cikampek, also in West Java.
"They imposed the illegal charges after Cikampek last year because they knew our staff would only follow them until there."
Sepang said the agency would pass on the officers' reports about breaches by bus companies to the Ministry of Transportation, which has the authority to take action against them. (edt/ind)