Breaking Coronavirus Chain; No Trains to Leave Jakarta

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned railway operator PT KAI overseeing the operation area 1 in Jakarta will stop all departures and arrivals in both of their long-distance and local trains starting on Friday, April 24, in an attempt to break the coronavirus chain.

This decision will be made effective as the central government imposes a ban against homecoming traveling, which is known locally as the annual “mudik” tradition. 

“The long-distance train services that will shut down its operations are those departing from Gambir, Pasar Senen, and Jakarta Kota Station,” PT KAI operational region 1 spokesperson Eva Chairunisa wrote in Thursday’s release. 

No longer will there be trains available from the city destined for popular “mudik” areas such as Bandung, Cirebon, Tegal, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Surabaya, Malang, and many more regions in the Java Island. 

In its entirety, 70 trips departing from the operational area will be canceled. Meanwhile, there will be 30 local trips canceled 

According to Eva, customers that have purchased train fares are offered three options to cancel their trips by receiving a full refund by contacting PT KAI’s contact center, cancel it themselves via the KAI Access app, or through the ticket boxes in the aforementioned train stations. 

PT KAI also said ticket cancelations can be done at a maximum 3-hours prior to the official departing schedule. She also said that the refunds will be transferred within a maximum of 45-days. 

“This policy will temporarily be effective up to April 30, 2020, all while closely observing the development of [the coronavirus pandemic],” said Eva.

M YUSUF MANURUNG