Train tickets priced up in the hands of scalpers
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It has been reported by local media in the last few days that train tickets to a number of cities in Central and East Java provinces days before Idul Fitri holiday have been sold out.
But seeing was believing for Suminto, 45, who tried on Sunday to get four tickets to Surabaya.
After queuing for 20 minutes in front of the ticket booth in Gambir railway station, Central Jakarta, he gave up.
"I had read in the newspaper that tickets had already been sold out. But I did not believe. I think the tickets are all in the hands of scalpers," Suminto told The Jakarta Post after leaving the queue.
Suminto, and hundreds of other people who also failed to get any business or executive class tickets on Sunday, were right about the scalpers.
Just a few meters from the ticket booth, a number of people offered tickets to those who left the queue disappointed.
One of the scalpers even approached the Post, boasting that he could provide tickets of any class to any destination.
"I even have a series of group tickets if you want your family members to be seated near one another," he added.
"Just tell me how many and what kinds of tickets you need. I can prepare them for you," said the scalper.
He quoted prices much higher than the official price.
He offered an executive class ticket to Surabaya, for example, at Rp 500,000 (US$49.85). Its official price is Rp 350,000. He offered a business class ticket to Surabaya at Rp 250,000, while the official price is Rp 160,000.
Ticket scalping is illegal, and in recent years, the police and station operators clamped down on scalpers while offering incentives to people who report them.
However, dozens of security officers deployed to prevent the scalpers' activities on Sunday did not do anything about the men who blatantly approached people offering tickets.
As many Jakartans intend to celebrate Idul Fitri in their hometowns on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, state-owned railway operator PT KAI had started to sell tickets in early October.
Within one week, business and executive class tickets had almost been sold out. The economy class tickets are not able to be reserved because they are sold without seat numbers.
PT KAI estimated that there will be a 2 percent increase from 719,933 people that left Jakarta last year to 732,478 this year.
To anticipate the increase, 12 additional trains -- six trains for economy class and three for business and executive class -- have been prepared.
Head of PT KAI for Greater Jakarta, Masduki Achmad, said that he had tried to prevent scalpers from operating, especially prior to the holiday when people do not care how much they have to pay to get a ticket.
"I told the officers to watch out for those seen with tickets in their hands," he said.
But it seems that the scalpers are smarter.
"We don't bring the tickets in (the station). We only tell people that we have the tickets. If they are interested, there are some of us outside holding the tickets. The transaction usually takes place in the parking lot," one of the scalpers told the Post.
"It's 20 meters from the station, so there are no security officers watching over us," he added.