Railway paralyzed after train derails<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu<\/p>\n
Java's northern track was paralyzed for at least six hours on
\nFriday when business train KA Fajar Utama 122 plying the Jakarta-
\nSemarang route derailed at 9:25 a.m. in Gabuswetan district,
\nIndramayu regency, West Java.<\/p>\n
Six economy trains departing from Jakarta were forced to stop
\nat minor stations, while executive trains KA Argo Lawu and KA
\nArgo Anggrek were redirected to the southern track via Bandung,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
No fatalities were reported, and authorities are still
\ninvestigating the cause of the accident.<\/p>\n
An employee of the Cirebon railway station said KA Fajar Utama
\n122 departed from Jakarta at 6:00 a.m., and ran normally until it
\narrived at the Kedokan Gabus railway station.<\/p>\n
When the train was about to leave the station at a speed of 40
\nkilometers per hour, the wheels slipped and the train derailed.<\/p>\n
The passengers got out of the train cars as soon as the train
\nstopped. Several passengers expressed their disappointment over
\nthe incident.<\/p>\n
\"I have to reach Semarang quickly to attend my nephew's
\nwedding,\" said Suharmono, 49.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Sugiri, 45, said that she hit her head during the
\naccident and recalled that many women were crying when the train
\nbegan to derail. Many of them also jumped out to save themselves.<\/p>\n
The accident disrupted the railway system, as seven of KA
\nFajar Utama's 12 cars derailed and blocked both tracks of the
\nrailway.<\/p>\n
The spokesman of state-run railway company PT KAI Cirebon,
\nSuhartono, said his office had canceled the departures of two KA
\nCirebon Ekspres trains following the accident.<\/p>\n
The two trains were eventually used to transport the 450
\npassengers of the derailed train to Semarang, Central Java.<\/p>\n
The derailed cars were back on the tracks by 3:20 p.m. \"Our
\nfield staff are working on the railway to make it safe for the
\ntrains,\" Suhartono said.<\/p>\n
As to the cause of the accident, he said authorities were
\nstill investigating. He added that the material losses of the
\naccident were being assessed, because they needed to cross-check
\nthe data with Jakarta, Bandung in West Java and Semarang.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, operations officer Mulyadi said there were four
\npossible factors that may have caused the accident -- human,
\nmechanical, electrical and geographical.<\/p>\n
Mulyadi said the geographical factor did not play a role in
\nthe accident, given the fact that the track was built on very
\nstable ground. \"It takes time to uncover the cause of an
\naccident,\" he added.<\/p>",
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