As many as 362,000 Eid al-Fitr exodus travellers departed by train from two stations in Jakarta, Pasar Senen and Gambir, between 12th April and 21st April, according to state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI). The peak departure period happened between 18th and 21st April when trains were at 100% capacity. During the entire Eid transportation period from 12th April to 3rd May, PT KAI will prepare up to one million long-distance train tickets, with 1,513 trips departing from Gambir and Pasar Senen. This figure includes 303 additional trips to popular destinations such as Yogyakarta, Semarang, Solo, Blitar, Surabaya and Malang. KAI has readied the tickets as a precautionary measure against a surge in train passengers. This year’s Eid exodus has seen an increase in the average number of passengers per day compared to last year. During the peak period of the exodus this year, the average number of train passengers departing reached around 42,000, while last year the number was around 36,000 during the peak. Moreover, for this year’s Eid al-Fitr, which will fall on 22nd April, the Indonesian government projected that the number of Eid exodus travellers would reach 123 million, which is an increase from last year’s 85 million.
