Give Way, Please!

Passengers trying to get off the commuter train meet -- and are blocked by -- those who are trying to get on it. Queuing and giving ways are manners that many of us are yet to learn. Unfortunately, only very little deliberate efforts have ever been made to do so. The situation is much worse with the commuter trains because the number of passengers far outnumber the available cars and trips. Out of panic, most passengers would rush to the platform as soon as the train is approaching and try to get on it before those inside can get off. It's a dangerous stampede-like experience especially for children, women, old people, and people with disabilities.

Public and mass transportation transportation system is long overdue homework for the city's government. There is virtually no working, well-coordinated, safe and convenient system of public and mass transportation system in this city.

Ghost Train

The car of the economy-class KRD commuter train traveling its last trip in the evening is dim and grim like a ghost train. Despite its look, however, it's relatively safe. I often use it to get home in the evening because it is the cheapest and fastest means of public transportation to get to the suburb from the city center.

Commuter Train Ticket

This is the ticket of Rencang Geulis express commuter train that serves Bandung and Padalarang (a town 18 kilometers west of Bandung). As you can see, the fare costs only 5,000 IDR or about 0.5 USD.

Locomotive Engineers

I live in the suburb and even though I don't like driving very much in this overcrowded city, I take the car or motorbike to go to work. Only every now and then do I take the KRDE Baraya Geulis commuter train, especially when I am not in a hurry and don't have to be at a particular place on time. (Baraya Geulis is clean and comfortable, but it runs only six trips a day and is quite often delayed, so as much as I want to, I can't rely on it.)

A few days ago, I took this train and was sitting in the front-most car where the engineer cabin/cockpit is. There were only a few passangers in the car, so I could get close to the engineer cabin and took this photo from behind the glass window.

Locomotive engineer is called with different names in the English language: railroad engineer, train driver, train operator, and engine driver. In the Indonesian language, they are called masinis.

KRDE Rencang Geulis and Baraya Geulis

With a population density of more than 13,000 people per square kilometer (2,364,000 plus population in area of about 167 km square), Bandung shamefully does not have a good and working mass rapid transportation system. There are commuter trains, buses, taxis, ojeg (motorcycle taxi), and the notorious angkot - all of which are loosely regulated and without an apparent systematic link to one another. As a result of this, traffic congestion is an everyday experience for Bandungese and visitors as people prefer to use their own private vehicles (motorbikes and cars) to get around. This situation is made worse by hodge podge spatial arrangement and commercialization. Malls and shopping places spring up rapidly without much consideration of the potential for traffic congestions they create.

Several attempts have been made to upgrade the city's mass transportation system. All of them failed because of the lack of funding and the pressure of interest groups - such as those of Angkot owners and operators - who are gaining advantage from the current situation.

In this situation, the launching of KRDE (Electric Diesel Train) Rencang Geulis commuter train in April this year is a good news. This clean and comfortable train that serves Cibatu - Bandung - Padalarang route is part of PT KAI (Indonesian Railway Company) efforts to help reduce traffic congestions in the greater Bandung area and provide better services for its commuter customers. Earlier, PT KAI had also launched KRDE Baraya Geulis that serves the route Cicalengka - Bandung - Padalarang, and Bumi Geulis that serves Bogor - Sukabumi.

As good as they, Baraya Geulis and Rencang Geulis are not a long term solution for the city's dire transportation system. For one, the commuter trains only serves points along the East - West axis of Bandung metropolitan area. They also have limited scedules and capacities. Baraya Geulis, for example, only runs twice a day during the peak hours and with a capacity of only 650 passangers.

By the way, Rencang Geulis are Sundanese words that mean "beautiful friend".

Photo caption:
The top photo is the interior view of KRDE Rencang Geulis commuter train.

Street Photography # 5: Life at Bandung's Commuter Train

Bandung's commuter train, the KRD (Kereta Rel Disel), is quite probably unlike any other commuter trains you have ever seen, had a ride on, or even imagined. It is not only a means of transportation, but also virtually and quite literally a mobile market place. On board, you can find almost anything you would normally find in a market and more. Different vendors offering different stuffs like candies, drinks, cigarettes, foods, fruits, newspapers, and magazines are only some examples of what you can meet on board. You can also find street musicians, and even dancers performing for tips from the passangers on it.

Needless to say, comfort is not the key word on a KRD ride, but it's the cheapest and speediest means of transportation that connects Padalarang, a subburb town about 15 kilometers west of the city of Bandung, and Cicalengka, another subburb town about 17 kilometers east of Bandung, through the city.

The photo above is of a newspaper man offering newspapers to passangers on board the KRD.