Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Iron Bars the Latest Tactic to Stop Train Roof Riders
Vento Saudale & Fidelis E. Satriastanti | February 11, 2012

Rail surfers on Friday try to avoid the ‘cowboy door’ overhead bars, which were installed in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, to halt the practice of riding on top of train roofs. (Antara Photo/Dhoni Setiawan) Rail surfers on Friday try to avoid the ‘cowboy door’ overhead bars, which were installed in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, to halt the practice of riding on top of train roofs. (Antara Photo/Dhoni Setiawan)
Share This Page
0
1
0
1
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

jchay
11:16am Feb 11, 2012

Again, instead of fixing the core issue (insufficient public transportation), the Indonesian officials close their eyes and implement stupid embarassing and deadly plans without good-will for the many people.. As we know, whoever gets the "project" money control this game.

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

After concrete balls and brooms covered in putrid gunk failed to deter fare-dodging commuters from riding on the roofs of train cars, the state railway company is beefing up its deterrence yet again — this time with iron bars.

Railway company Kereta Api Indonesia said on Friday that it would replace the fiber-glass bars currently hanging on railway poles with new iron ones.

“The fiber-glass ones were light and easily destroyed by the passengers, so now we will make them from steel or iron,” KAI spokesman Mateta Rizalulhaq said. “Now, the passengers can’t kick or smash them.”

The previous fiber-glass bars, dubbed “cowboy doors” by some because the two hanging bars took the classic shape of saloon doors from Western cowboy movies, failed to deter passengers because they were too light and easy to destroy.

The bars were also short, and some passengers said they could avoid the barrier by lying down on the train roof.

With the new iron bars, Mateta warned, passengers would be smashed to the ground if they continued riding on the roof.

“We will first install several of them above the tracks between Bogor and Jakarta,” Mateta said.

Some passengers, however, have said they will continue to sit on top of the trains regardless of KAI’s tactics.

“What are we supposed to do? Inside [the train] is so cramped that I can’t even enter,” said Ahmad, who lives in Bojong, Bogor.

“KAI should just add more trains instead of trying to use deadly tactics like these.”

Indonesia has tried just about everything to keep passengers from clamoring atop the trains that crisscross Java, from spraying the trains with paint guns to calling in sniffer dogs and asking for help from Muslim clerics.

Last month, Indonesia made international media headlines for a controversial decision to install rows of hanging concrete balls above railway tracks to scare away the train surfers.

The balls were placed five to 10 centimeters apart, hanging about 25 centimeters above trains on frames like football goals.

The tactic prompted allegations of human rights abuses because it could endanger the lives of passengers, but in some ways it has achieved KAI’s goal.

With the grapefruit-sized balls suspended on chains, many rail surfers, realizing they could be knocked on the head or even killed, quickly abandoned their roof riding habits.

Buoyed by the success, railway officials also decided to try the brooms and cowboy doors.

“We will continue to use the three tactics,” Mateta said. “We’ll install different ones depending on the location.”

There has been no reports of train-surfing deaths so far.