Electric Trains: Community, Story, Romance

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

MORE than just a means of transportation, electric-powered trains (KRL) constitute a community, a love story, and a portrait of people pushed aside. Inside, thousands are on the go, while others are at work. In the rumbling train, they find friends, revenue, and perhaps even good fortune.

The train is also a dismal portrait of how people deal with poverty: some passengers without tickets bribe the engineers, who welcome the supplemental income.

The train is a reflection of corruption and administrative confusion, with romance budding in its empty spaces.

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HE is not an engineer, nor a conductor, and certainly not an ordinary passenger. Dressed in the nameless uniform of PT Kereta Api Indonesia, he stands at the door of the engineers cabin of the electric train, economy class, Kota-Bogor route, which is stopped in Manggarai Station. Approaching passengers are succinctly asked, The usual? Those who reply in the affirmative are allowed in. If the person does not reply or looks confused, he will block

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