Travelers stranded at bus, railway stations

Travelers stranded at bus, railway stations

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of Idul Fitri travelers were stranded
at bus terminals and railway stations in the city yesterday
afternoon due to the late arrival of transport.

Crowds were found at Kampung Rambutan, Pulogadung, Pasar
Minggu and Grogol bus terminals and the Gambir, Senen and
Jatinegara railway stations.

The masses at the terminals lessened gradually by late in the
evening thanks to the remarkable cooperation among on-duty
officers to help facilitate the flow of buses returning to
Jakarta after dropping their passengers.

Many of the buses arrived at the terminals far behind schedule
due to traffic congestion on the roads heading towards Jakarta.

Among the causes of the traffic jams was the incorrect parking
and crossing of roads and intersections by motorcycles, pedicabs
and livestock at many small towns in Central Jakarta.

Land Transportation Director General Soejono, who monitored
the Idul Fitri routes via helicopter yesterday, asked the
officers to help overcome the traffic congestion.

"Put the public interest first," Soejono instructed.

The huge number of Idul Fitri holiday makers stranded at the
railway stations was mainly caused by the behavior of the
passengers themselves.

At the Senen station in Central Jakarta, for instance, many of
them rushed quickly to a train which had just arrived, leaving
the horde of passengers wanting to disembark no room to do so.

"In such a condition, there's only one rule here: first come,
first seated," said a young female employee heading to Surabaya,
East Java.

"It's not an easy job to handle such a lot of low-educated
people," an officer of the station told The Jakarta Post. "They
never obey our rules."

Declining

By yesterday evening, the overall number of Idul Fitri
travelers heading to their hometowns in Java and Sumatra was
slightly lower than those recorded in the past two days.

However, the annual exodus, particularly of bus and train
passengers, would increase further tomorrow and Thursday, the
last days before Idul Fitri, which falls on March 3 and 4.

Seats for trains leaving form the Kota railway station in West
Jakarta, for example, have already been fully booked. But dozens
of scalpers were found at the station yesterday approaching
travelers and offering tickets with fares almost double the usual
rate.

The overall flow of traffic heading from Jakarta to the
eastern parts of Java and several parts of Sumatra yesterday was
slightly lower.

A number of traffic jams were recorded in a number of areas
but were resolved quickly by diverting the traffic to alternative
routes.

In a related development yesterday, the Tanjung Priok seaport
recorded around 1,500 Idul Fitri travelers to Sulawesi and
Kalimantan destinations.

Some of them rushed immediately to the state-owned MV Umsini
liner, which has a capacity of 1,700 passengers, without waiting
for the Jakarta bound passengers to disembark.

"I had a bad experience last year when I followed the officers
advise to be patient," recalled Sjarifuddin, 41.

His berth in an eight-berth cabin, was taken by another
passenger. Sjarifuddin's right to the cabin was refused despite
him holding the ticket.

The vessel crew could only do nothing, he said.

"That's why I have to struggle to get my right this time," he
said. (bsr)