Public Enthusiasm Is High, The Number Of Passengers Riding Subsidized Trains Is Limited

The Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA) limits the number of occupancy in subsidized train services through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) scheme.

Director General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation Risal Wasal said the restrictions were carried out by adjusting the capacity of the dynamic passenger (load factor).

Furthermore, Risal said that this rule will be applied to PSO train services that use K3 facilities with a distance of more than 100 km.

"We have input that currently the enthusiasm of the community to use PSO train services is quite high. So we need to regulate the capacity so as not to reduce the comfort of passengers," he said in an official statement, Wednesday, August 2.

Rules Applicable From August

Risal said that the implementation of this rule will start on August 1, 2023 through adjusting the number of tickets without seats sold.

"Previously, the PSO train had a load factor of up to 150 percent, so we encourage operators to be able to adjust the load factor to 120 percent through ticketing and socialization systems to the public," explained Risal.

The PSO train services affected by this rule mostly come from the 2nd Bandung operating area (DAOP) and DAOP 8 Surabaya, including Commuter Line Garut, Commuter Line Dhoho, and Commuter Line Panagaran.

After this adjustment takes effect, said Risal, tickets without seats sold for PSO train services with these criteria should not be more than 20 percent of the seating capacity.

"Hopefully with this adjustment, people can be more comfortable using train services and more and more people will switch to using public transportation," concluded Risal.