Indonesia lowers power lines to deter train surfers

State-run rail operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia said it began lowering cables Friday by around one metre (three feet) on sections of the 59-kilometre (37-mile) route between Jakarta and Bogor city.

"This measure has proven to be very effective and cheap. Nobody dares to sit on the roof because they are afraid of being electrocuted," the company's security official Ahmad Sujadi told AFP.

Work on the rest of the line was due to be finished by August 10, he said.

Commuters hitching a free ride on carriage roofs is a big problem for the rail operator, which has tried several measures to deter the practice, especially during peak hours when carriages are crammed.

These have included spraying paint on roof surfers, installing poles that deliver a painful whack, stationing dogs on train roofs, and hanging boulders above the tracks to knock off "atapers", or "roofers" in the local slang.

The National Commission on Human Rights said the latest measure was not the right way to tackle the problem of fare dodgers.

"It is irresponsible of the operator to trap people in such a dangerous way," the commission's deputy chairman, Nur Kholis, told AFP.

"This is not the best solution to deter people from going on the roof. If the operator provides more carriages and improves the facilities it is unlikely people will go on the roof," he said.

Rights groups have criticised other measures used by the rail operator, saying they compromise public safety and discriminate against the poor, many of whom rely on the overcrowded trains to get to work.