"I'm glad PT KA finally launched the service," said a passenger, Nurcahyo. "I've been waiting for the service for years. I often have difficulties getting information, for example, whether a train is running or not when floods hit the city."

In the near future, commuters will also be able to access information about routes and service updates by calling the KRL Care Center, which was launched in Greater Jakarta on Tuesday.

"The service came a bit later than we expected," said a private company employee, who usually takes a train from Depok in West Java to Cawang in East Jakarta. "We had asked for a call center five years ago. At least it shows they intend to give better public service."

Another commuter, Sali Pawiatan, who usually takes the Sudirman express train from her house in Serpong, Banten, to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, also welcomed the new service.

"The center is a good idea. It is important for commuters like me who need updated information about services. If the train is canceled or delayed, I'll know to take other public transportation," she said.

PT KA sometimes has to delay or cancel trains due to floods or technicalities, like power failures. Sometimes they are unable to announce the change.

"I've already called the center twice and the operators responded quickly. I think they could be more friendly though," she said.

PT KA's city transportation head Ahmad Marzuki said commuters are now able to call any of its hotlines (listed below) but SMS and website services would only be available from next month.

"We want to serve our customers better. We now have eight lines so commuters can easily call us. We don't want them to hear our lines engaged," he said.

PT KA has deployed 12 operators to handle the call center, which had a good response in the first three days of operation.

According to the center's supervisor, Adhi Supriyadi, there were 95 callers on Tuesday, while it received 99 calls on Wednesday and 65 calls on Thursday.

"Most of the callers asked for train schedules," Adhi said.

The number of train commuters across Greater Jakarta increases every year.

Last year, PT KA sold more 118 million tickets to commuters, while in 2006, they sold about 104.4 millions. The actual number of commuters is larger as many passengers take the train without buying a ticket.