Train roof-riders to be hit with brooms in Indonesia

Indonesia has come up with a bizarre plan to stop commuters riding on the roofs of trains – hit them with brooms drenched in putrid gunge.

“For anyone who is still up there, it’ll be like a whip,” said Ahmad Sujadi, of the state-run railway, PT Kereta Api Indonesia. The contraptions will be installed at select crossings.

Indonesia has tried just about everything to prevent passengers from clambering on to the roofs of trains which criss-cross its main island of Java, spraying them with paint guns, calling in sniffer dogs, and asking for help from Muslim clerics.

But it wasn’t until last month that one of their tactics actually worked.

In a few places along the track, grapefruit-sized concrete balls have been suspended on chains from a frame that looks like a soccer goal.

“Rail surfers”, realising they could be knocked in the head or even killed, quickly called it quits.

Buoyed by the success, railway officials decided to try the brooms as well.

They will start setting them up along the line linking the capital, Jakarta, and the West Java town of Bogor from today.

Mr Sujadi said he was unmoved by criticism of all the strange and strict security measures.

“Some people say it’s inhumane, but that’s fine,” he said. “Because letting them ride on the roofs is even more inhumane.”

Hundreds have climbed on to the roofs of trains in the past because they want to escape overcrowded carriages, cannot afford the price of a ticket, or, simply, because it is more fun.

But dozens are killed or injured every year, falling off the train or being electrocuted by the power lines above.