It was high noon. The Semarang sun was at its fiercest, like a\nproject foreman who had missed his morning coffee. On Jalan Cilosari\nDalam, Kemijen ward, East Semarang, a white Datsun car stopped right on\na railway track without a crossing gate. There was no dramatic siren\nsound. No barrier lowering slowly like in a Korean film scene. No\nofficer blowing a whistle while running in panic. There was only the\nbare track, a wide smooth road, and fate playing a game of dice. Then\nfrom the east, the Argo Bromo Anggrek train serving the Surabaya-Jakarta\nroute hurtled down the line. Crash! The locomotive struck the car.\nLuckily it was only a glancing blow, though it was still dragged along\nlike a tin can kicked by a village child after Eid. The car was wrecked.\nFive passengers survived. Three suffered bruises. The hospital went to\nwork. The media arrived. Cameras switched on. Residents clutched their\nchests. Then everything returned to normal, as if this nation has an\nextraordinary talent for forgetting a tragedy before the afternoon\ncoffee is brewed.<\/p>\n
Yet this is not a new story. Nor is it even an old story. It is an\nancient tale nurtured by modernity. The greatest irony springs from a\nhistorical fact: Kemijen is the very cradle of Indonesia\u2019s railways. It\nwas in this village, on 17 June 1864, that the Governor-General of the\nDutch East Indies, Baron Sloet van de Beele, broke ground on the first\nrailway line in the archipelago. From this soil, the modern train began\nto travel on 10 August 1867. Just imagine that. From an era when\nhorse-drawn carts were still premium technology, from when the Dutch\nstill wore top hats while carting sugar and produce, until today when\nhumanity speaks of artificial intelligence, satellites, electric cars,\nand space tourism, the crossing in Kemijen remains bare, without a\nbarrier gate.<\/p>\n
The trains have changed. The locomotives have changed. Ministers have\nchanged. Presidents have changed. Uniforms have changed. Institutional\nlogos have changed. Even the stations now have WiFi and lattes. But the\nbarrier-less track remains loyal, like a monument to bureaucratic\nindolence. In this country, sometimes what lasts longest is not\ndevelopment, but excuses. Residents have repeatedly requested a crossing\ngate. Studies have been conducted for years. Analyses pile up like\nundergraduate theses only read by examiners before being stored away.\nMoreover, the budget is said to be available. Discussions take place.\nMeetings are held. PowerPoint presentations are delivered. Safety\nseminars are held in star-rated hotels while enjoying coffee breaks and\nchocolate pudding. But on the ground? The track remains open like the\nmouth of a hungry crocodile.<\/p>\n
Then comes the sacred ritual known as \u201cit\u2019s not our authority.\u201d PT\nKAI says that guarding and barrier gates are the responsibility of the\nregional government. The regional government perhaps feels it is a\ncentral government matter. The central government feels the operator\nmust also take action. Everyone speaks of coordination. Everyone speaks\nof regulation. Everyone speaks of studies. No one speaks to say:\n\u201cInstall it tomorrow!\u201d Just imagine, since 1867, the work of officials\nseems to have truly been limited to reporting. Perhaps thousands of\npages of studies have been born, printed, bound, initialled, stamped,\nand then put to peaceful slumber in filing cabinets. If all those\nreports were lined up, they could probably form a paper flyover from\nSemarang to Surabaya.<\/p>\n
The irony grows more bitter as accident after accident continues to\noccur. East Bekasi in April 2026 became the next alarm bell. A collision\ninvolved a commuter line train, an online taxi, and the Argo Bromo\nAnggrek. One hundred and six victims fell. Sixteen died. Once again, the\npublic was shocked. Once again, officials spoke of acceleration. Once\nagain, this nation seemed to only just realise that a train cannot stop\nsuddenly like an automatic scooter whose brakes are squeezed by a\nmotorbike taxi driver.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-first-rail-the-last-crossing-barrier-1781052850", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }