AHY to Investigate Level Crossings Following Bekasi Timur Tragedy
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono has highlighted the prevalence of unsafe level crossings for trains, in the wake of the long-distance train (KAJJ) accident with the Commuterline at Bekasi Timur Station on Monday night (27/04/2026).
The General Chairman of the Democrat Party stated that he would conduct an investigation.
“There are still quite a few level crossings, where the railway tracks coincide with land transportation routes, meaning roads crossing the railway tracks. We will investigate,” said AHY during his inspection of Bekasi Timur Station on Tuesday afternoon (28/04/2026).
As a handling measure, AHY mentioned the construction of elevated roads or flyovers to eliminate level crossings.
“This requires preparation of spatial planning and land. It also requires a process, then the construction of the flyover itself. Only after that can there be a good management of the traffic system to avoid other accidents in the future. At the same time, it can close several other level crossings if the flyover is already present in the midst of our community,” said AHY.
President Prabowo Subianto has spotlighted the existence of thousands of railway level crossings on Java Island that are deemed to lack adequate security systems.
This was conveyed by Prabowo following the KRL and KAJJ collision tragedy that stemmed from an accident with an electric taxi at the Bulak Kapal level crossing in Bekasi City on Monday night (27/4/2026).
Prabowo revealed that the condition of crossings without gates and adequate security is a classic problem that has been left unresolved for decades.
“This has been around since, I think, the Dutch era, how many decades. Now, we will resolve all of that. I have ordered it immediately; we will fix all those crossings,” he said.
The improvement measures to be taken include placing official guard posts and building elevated roads (flyovers) at crucial points with heavy traffic.
According to Prabowo, the budget is necessary to ensure public safety, considering the importance of rail transport.
“For safety and because we really need trains, we must allocate it. Now is the time; it hasn’t been done for decades, now we will do it,” he stated.