The LRT Trial Period Should Be A Year So That There Are Not Many Complaints About Service

Integrated Highways (LRT) or Light Trains Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi (Jabodebek). (Between/HO-Humas INKA)

JAKARTA The mode of transportation for the Integrated Railroad (LRT) is predicted to be one of the solutions for congestion in the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi areas. But what happened, for some people, the LRT services did not match expectations.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has commercially operated the Jabodebek LRT on August 28, 2023. The presence of the LRT was welcomed positively, because it could add alternative public transportation.

However, it has not been officially operational for two months, the LRT has received many complaints. Starting from the train door until the waiting time is in the public spotlight, which has begun to switch to the LRT.

"Recently, it has been 2 weeks since the Jabodebek LRT operational schedule was very unfriendly, guys. Even though sometimes there are 15 minutes once suddenly it can only come once every 30 minutes. And the severity happened at rush hour. This is the same as not supporting and not helping people to work," complained the owner of the TikTok account @ cerita_arr.

At the beginning of the operation, the LRT door was considered less high so it was uncomfortable for passengers with a height above 160 cm. In addition, several times the train doors could not be closed and the dead air conditioning facilities (AC) were also complained of by users.

Over time, the problem of LRT operations has increased. Recently, LRT users have complained about a very long waiting time, even up to an hour. In fact, the use of the LRT is expected to help shorten the travel time.

The Manager of Public Relations of the Jabodebek LRT, Kuswardoyo, spoke about the long headway or departure distance between Jabodebek LRT trains.

He explained that this happened because of a reduction in travel outside of peak hours. And this was exacerbated because 18 trainsets had to enter the treatment room for wheel dissolution.

"Currently there are 18 queuing for wheels, and the headway is 30-40 minutes," said Kuswardoyo.

"The condition of wheel viscosity that has entered the dissemination period requires a number of trainsets to be maintained so that travel safety is maintained," he added.

As a result of these series of problems, KAI, Jabodebek LRT Division, only operates nine trainsets. This is what makes the waiting time for the Jabodebek LRT outside of peak hours up to an hour. Whereas on the official LRT website, it is stated that passengers only need to wait 10 minutes for the train to arrive.

Even though the public's enthusiasm for the LRT is quite high. Since President Jokowi was inaugurated on August 28, 2023, the Jabodebek LRT has transported more than 2.4 million customers.

The series of problems experienced by LRT are certainly very unfortunate, considering that this mode is the hope of the community to be able to break the congestion of the capital city.

According to transportation observer Djoko Setijowarno, the government is too hasty in raising the test status to commercial services at the LRT. According to Djoko, the trial period should be extended to one year.

"Even though it has been operated, even though the president has been inaugurated, I think this should still be included in the trial," Djoko told VOI.

"Well, this trial stage should not be finished yet, but the tariff has been rushed," Djoko added.

Djoko compared the LRT trial stages with the MRT. Before starting operations for the public in March 2019, the MRT train began conducting a series of trials since August 2018.

In fact, according to Djoko, if the LRT trial period is extended and with tariffs, the public will understand more about the problems they face.

"With the problem of aus wheels, long waiting times, and other problems, this should be a lesson," Djoko added.

The enthusiasm and public expectations for the LRT are already high, but unfortunately, in reality, it is not as expected. People forget that the trial period has not been completed.

"During this trial period, a series of problems will be seen, so that when someone does not comply with the expectations of the community, they can still understand because this is still in the testing stage," he said.

LRT problems should be a lesson so far so that LRT operations are better in the future. The reason is, LRT has big aspirations to break up Jakarta congestion which is getting worse day by day.

In addition, the LRT is also integrated with the Indonesia Cina high-speed train on the Jakarta-Bandung route, which is currently being touted by the government.

If you continue to have problems, especially regarding the waiting time, the LRT can take part in failing to optimize the operation of KCIC.