Train service near normal

JAKARTA: Passenger train services were better on Saturday than earlier in the week although there were still some canceled due to flooding. Spokesman for state railway company PT KAI Zainal Abidin said almost all intercity and city services were normal.

Services at Gambir Station in Central Jakarta was not disrupted, despite floodwater that had been in front of the station since Friday night.

As of Saturday, only one Argo Gede train, plying the Jakarta- Bandung route, was canceled, as the train had not yet arrived from Bandung.

All passengers were diverted to the Parahyangan that left at 6:30 p.m.

Zainal said he had not yet received a report explaining why the train had been held up in Bandung. However, the Jakarta- Bandung route returned to normal after it was severed at Ciganea, Purwakarta, West Java, on Friday due to flooding.

Two city trains serving the Jakarta - Rangkasbitung route, one in each direction, were canceled on Saturday due to flooding. Of a total of 350 electric train journeys, only the Jakarta- Tangerang journeys were canceled in the last four days.

Flooding at Tanah Abang Station forced PT KAI to divert economy-class trains to Gambir.

The Parahyangan and Argo Gede ticket counters looked unusually quiet and scalpers found it hard to sell their tickets.

Budi, 30, an employee at the Ministry of Finance, said it was easy for him to get a Parahyangan ticket. "I just want to go to Bandung for the weekend. A nice getaway at a time like this." -- JP