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Jakarta (AFP) - In a city known for its terrible traffic, 'zombies' are on the rise in a gruesome attempt to get more people to use public transport.
That's the hope of a Jakarta light rail operator who has transformed a train and station into a bloody zombie apocalypse scene, with real passengers invited to the show.
The paid ride, launched last month by super-urban light rail operator PT LRT Jakarta and event organizer Pandora Box, is aimed at promoting the relatively new system and more generally encouraging young people to use public transport. .
The actors pant, roar, dressed in rags. One particularly terrifying character only has the whites of his eyes visible.
Zombies shuffle toward passengers, forcing them to run through the station's dark tunnels to the train.
In the bloodied carriage, a TV presenter, another actor, breaks the news of a fictional outbreak of the Pandora virus that is spreading through the city and turning people into the walking dead.
#Photo 1Soldiers armed with fake weapons fight "zombies" and try to escort passengers to safety.
But the animated corpses hide, hide, ready to emerge and terrorize.
"Danger, watch out for zombies," warns a sign at a station where red lights flash.
#photo 2"The zombies weren't really chasing us, but we kept panicking," said Genesis Christie, a 17-year-old zombie enthusiast.
The event, titled "Train to the Apocalypse," was inspired by the 2016 South Korean horror film "Train to Busan."
"We want to educate young people that traveling by public transport can also be interesting," Billy Junior, executive director of Pandora Box, told AFP.
Jakarta, home to more than 30 million people, has some of the most polluted streets in the world and its uneven sidewalks make walking difficult.
Its light rapid transit system only entered commercial operation in December 2019.
Traffic analysts warned at the time that the new line and low fares alone would not free the city from the frenzy of private vehicles.
A trip on the Apocalypse train costs between 60,000 and 70,000 rupees (between 4 and 4.70 dollars) until the end of the event on Sunday.
#photo 3Organizers promised that the 20-minute trip would not interfere with regular LRT passengers. Even without participating, they can watch a horror show for free.
© 2022 AFP
