SURAKARTA. Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo says he will stand by the city’s Jaladara steam train despite it causing massive losses since it first launched in 2009.

Setting aside the losses, he said, the train has helped small and medium businesses to flourish.

“We don’t intend to be profit-oriented from the train service,” Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, said on Thursday.

The Jaladara can sit 80 passengers in its two carts and has been a city tourism icon. It consumes three cubic feet of teak-wood logs, worth Rp 3.5 million (US$382), on a daily basis.

The train’s daily route passes some of the city’s icons, like the batik village of Laweyan, which houses dozens of batik fabric makers; Loji Gandrung, the mayor’s official house; Ngapeman; Pasar Pon; and Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta, one of the country’s respected culture sanctuaries.

The train service receives annual subsidies of Rp 700 million from the administration, while have revenues of just Rp 100 million from ticket sales.

Commenting on this, Surakarta House Speaker YF Soekasno said that the house was mulling new strategies for the train service.

“We stand on the same side here. Our sole intention will be how to spare the train service by evaluating some unnecessary expenditure,” he said. (Kusumasari Ayuningtyas/The Jakarta Post)

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