0 Your letters: Add more commuter trains

Living and working in Jakarta, one must have the courage to try out the public transportation. Day-by-day the traffic becomes worse, as car numbers are increasing so too does the number of motorcycles. People who live in the suburbs often prefer to go to the office by train rather than by public minivan, or angkot. I have interviewed some train commuters who live in the Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) area. How fast and effective is commuting by rail? 

“I have no choice, for me taking a train is the quickest way to get to the office. I live in Depok, I started my new life after I got married. I bought the house in Depok because I knew Depok has train access for commuters. I’ve tried to go by bus, but the distance is twice as far,” said Dewi Kurnia, who works for a law firm in Jakarta. She added, “It often happens that the AC is not working, they only provide a fan [….] thousands of people are packed on the train, so I feel like we are in a sauna, and sometimes my feet don’t even touch the floor of the train. It is horrible, isn’t?” 

Although PT KAI has added more trains for Depok, the situation has not improved. A different story came from Bekasi commuters. Tyas Wibisono is more concerned about the new schedule from PT KAI. “It was recommended to me by a colleague who lives in the Bekasi area, it is much more efficient to go by train. It only took 20 minutes from Sudirman to reach home, since then I fell in love with train commuting. But now the new schedule makes me stressed because I have to change the train at a central loop in Manggarai and it takes me longer to wait for another train. 

And it is often that the train does not match our transit time, not to mention the signal problems and blackouts. So I think the new schedule is not helpful for Bekasi people at all, and I’ve heard that people who live in the Serpong area are also experiencing the same thing,” said Tyas who works for a private company in Jakarta. Marliza, who lives in Ciputat said, “Although the train often has signal problems, I still stick to being a train commuter. I’m not going home by bus.” 

Recently, PT KAI issued a new schedule with a new system that involves six routes meeting at a central loop in Jakarta. Manggarai is one of five transit stations in the loop. The others are Jatinegara, Tanah Abang, Bukit Duri and Kampung Bandan. Passengers from surrounding towns will be able to take a train to the loop, switch to the loop line and continue to another train if needed. As train commuters, we hope that PT KAI will add more trains for commuters, consider the schedule carefully, and anticipate signal problems. For us, taking a train is the quickest way to reach work or home considering the traffic in Jakarta.

Dian Indralestari
Jakarta
source : the jakarta post