Steal the start of going home by train to avoid peak homecoming traffic

Mirza Sena (34), together with his wife and three children, intentionally chose today's departure date to avoid the crowds during the annual homecoming migration. This young family began their journey from Palu, Central Sulawesi, by taking a morning flight to Jakarta. After that, they transited to Pasar Senen Station to board the Brantas Train to Cirebon, West Java, at 1:30 p.m. Upon arrival in Cirebon, they continued their journey by land to their hometown in Kuningan.

It's better to leave now, fortunately the boss is good, WFH (work from home) is allowed.

Their reason for returning to their hometown early is to ensure a comfortable journey for their three children, avoiding the crowded peak of the homecoming rush. Fortunately, Mirza is also assigned to work in Jakarta, so he can take his family back to their hometown early. His elementary school child has been on vacation since last Monday.

"If it's early in the homecoming season, it's easier and not too crowded. The children also won't be too fussy on the road. Coincidentally, I have work in Jakarta five days before Eid al-Fitr. So, I'll drop them off first, then continue working in Jakarta," said Mirza at Pasar Senen Station, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (28/3/2024).

According to Mirza, the process of hunting for tickets for the Lebaran annual exodus is not too complicated. Their strategy is to secure train tickets first before buying airline tickets. The reason for this is because hunting for train tickets is more difficult than for planes.

The prices of train and plane tickets are felt to still be in line with normal prices, with no significant increase during the homecoming season. Private employees do not need to dig deeper into their pockets than the funds they have allocated.

"Yesterday we were fighting for train tickets first, then we dared to buy plane tickets. Buying five train tickets that sit close together is quite difficult this Eid. "Luckily we got it and the price was still right," he said.

Unlike Mirza, Aulia Rahma (30) had to go home early due to difficulties in getting train tickets during the peak period for returning home. Eventually, she bought a ticket to go back to Yogyakarta on Friday (March 29, 2024) from Gambir Station.

A private employee in South Jakarta then requested to work from home to their office for a week to go back to their hometown early, followed by taking a week off after Eid al-Fitr. The office granted the request and they started preparing to return to their hometown tomorrow.

“It's very difficult to find tickets, they're all sold out. So, it's better to leave now just. "Luckily, the good boss is allowed WFH (work from home)," said Aulia.

Breaking up the traffic flow

Mirza and Aulia's families were among those who followed the government's advice to go home early to reduce the density of homecoming traffic. This is because a survey of the potential movement of people during Eid 2024 by the Ministry of Transportation predicts that as many as 193.6 million people will return home.

This figure has increased from the previous year's projection of 123.8 million people. The increase is influenced by the lifting of movement restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, an improving economy, collective leave, school holidays, an increase in the quality and quantity of transportation infrastructure, as well as weather forecasts.

"Some of the children who are already on vacation may return home earlier, and as in previous years, they should not use motorcycles as it is very dangerous. Make good use of the free homecoming program," said Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi in Jakarta on Monday (25/3/2024).

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This survey also shows that trains are still the preferred public transportation for travelers. Approximately 20.3 percent or 39.32 million people choose to travel home by train, followed by buses at 19.4 percent, private cars at 18.3 percent, and motorcycles at 16.07 percent.

Tickets are still available

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) has recorded that as of Thursday, March 28th, 2024, long-distance train tickets for the period of H-10 to H+10 (March 31st-April 21st, 2024) have been sold 59 percent or 1,922,450 tickets out of the 3,283,204 tickets provided for the Eid holiday transportation. The most tickets for homecoming trips were sold on April 6th (H-4), amounting to 127,256 tickets. Meanwhile, the most tickets for the return trip were sold on April 14th (H+3), amounting to 120,991 tickets.

"The number of tickets sold will continue to increase because sales are still ongoing," said KAI Head of Public Relations Joni Martinus.

Meanwhile, the top five favorite train services for homecoming travelers are Airlangga train from Pasar Senen to Surabaya Pasar Turi, Sri Tanjung train from Lempuyangan to Ketapang, Bengawan train from Pasar Senen to Purwosari, Pasundan train from Kiaracondong to Surabaya Gubeng, and Kahuripan train from Kiaracondong to Blitar.

In this year's Idul Fitri transport in 2024, there were a total of 8,678 long-distance and local train trips, averaging 394 train trips per day. The total number of train trips includes 1,242 additional train trips consisting of 1,154 additional long-distance train trips and 88 additional local train trips.

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