PT Kereta Api Indonesia had "made 46 additional trains ready".Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of people taking the train to their home villages for Lebaran this year has increased by 16.2 percent compared with 2011, according to Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan.
"The number of people who travel by train this year has increased by 16.2 percent, from 192 regular train departures to 216, with 26 additional trains," he said at the presidential office here on Monday.
The minister added that state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia had "made 46 additional trains ready" in anticipation of an increased passenger traffic during the Lebaran holiday exodus.
Meanwhile, Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono, when announcing the provision of two additional electric diesel train services at Gubeng Station in Surabaya, East Java, stated that around 2.2 million homeward-bound travellers this year would travel by train.
He said PT Kereta Api Indonesia this year had stepped up efforts to ensure that the number of train passengers never exceeded the seat capacity.
"Besides, the passengers are required to have their names on the train tickets, which should match with their identity cards," Bambang added.
He explained that the enforcement of the rule was necessary to prevent overcrowding.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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