'Argo Gede' train skids in Purwakarta

'Argo Gede' train skids in Purwakarta

PURWAKARTA, West Java: The executive Argo Gede train, heading for
Jakarta from Bandung in West Java, skidded off the tracks near
Cilame, Purwakarta regency at about 5:50 p.m. on Friday, blocking
railway traffic in both direction.

"The locomotive and two subsequent coaches skidded at Cilame.
We have yet to identify the cause of the incident," Zaenal
Abidin, a spokesman for state-owned railway operator Pt Kereta
Api Indonesia (KAI), said Friday evening.

No injuries were reported in the incident, which forced the
company to cancel two subsequent trips from Jakarta to Bandung.

Zaenal said the company was not able to provide the exact time
when the railway service in the area would return to normal,
saying that it would take quite some time to remove the train and
repair the tracks.

"We need to deploy the Kumbokarno lifting equipment from the
Jatinegara railway station in East Jakarta to the site of the
incident," he said.

"We don't know yet when the railway service will return back
to normal. Currently, we have provided buses to transport the
passengers to their destination (in Jakarta)," he added. -- JP