Bekasi Timur train crash: taxi not faulty, signalling and communications under scrutiny

JAKARTA — A cascade of new facts continues to emerge in the fatal crash involving the KRL Commuter Line, KA Argo Bromo Anggrek, and an electric taxi at Bekasi Timur Station, Bekasi City, West Java. In a working meeting with the DPR’s Commission V on Thursday, 21 May 2026, the Ministry of Transportation, the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), and the Police’s Traffic Corps (Korlantas) presented the chronology, initial investigative findings, and developments in the case’s legal process.

From the briefing, it was revealed that the electric taxi struck by the KRL 5181B Cikarang-Jakarta, had not experienced any system failure or error from the outset. Police also confirmed that the taxi driver has been named a suspect.

‘Based on the initial chronology, the incident began when the Bekasi-Cikarang line KRL was struck by a car at the JPL 85 level crossing,’ said Dudy on Thursday.

Before the incident, KRL 5568A Jakarta-Cikarang arrived one minute earlier at Bekasi Station at 20:34 WIB. Then KA Sawunggalih 116B arrived at 20:35 WIB at the same station, five minutes late from the schedule.

‘KA Sawunggalih departed at 20:37 from Bekasi Station and crossed Bekasi Timur Station at 20:39,’ Dudy said.

The situation began to change at 20:48 WIB when the Bekasi-Cikarang KRL 5181B passed and struck the taxi at JPL 85 crossing.

At the same time, KRL 5568A Jakarta-Cikarang, which had been eight minutes late, departed Bekasi Station towards Bekasi Timur at 20:45 WIB. The train arrived Bekasi Timur at 20:49 WIB, nine minutes late.

According to Dudy, the KRL 5568A briefly moved away from the station but then stopped because of a crowd on the track ahead.

‘The train did move, but stopped due to a crowd in front observing the incident,’ he explained.

Not long after, KA Argo Bromo Anggrek passed Bekasi Station at 20:51 WIB at speeds up to 108 kilometres per hour.

‘The collision occurred at 20:52,’ Dudy said.

The KNKT chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said the very short time window was a key factor in the night’s sequence of events.

‘So 20:52.12 was the collision between the KRL 5181B and the taxi, and the gap to the collision with KA Bromo Anggrek and KRL 5568A was about 3 minutes 43 seconds,’ he said.

‘So, indeed, there was a short interval between the 5181 collision and the Argo Bromo Anggrek collision of about 3 minutes 43 seconds, Sir,’ he added.

The KRL had entered and stopped on Track 1 at Bekasi Timur Station from 20:48:13 WIB to 20:48:29 WIB.

At almost the same time, precisely at 20:48:29 WIB, there was a collision between KRL 5181B and the taxi at the JPL Bekasi Timur level crossing.

After passenger boarding and alighting at Bekasi Timur Station from 20:48:53 WIB to 20:48:59 WIB, KRL 5568A moved a distance of 1.69 metres before stopping again as the driver noticed a crowd.

At 20:52:12 WIB, KA Argo Bromo Anggrek struck the sequence of trains still on the Bekasi Timur track.

In the hearing, the Chair of Commission V DPR RI, Lasarus, questioned why the signalling for KA Argo Bromo Anggrek remained green when a train ahead had stopped.

‘So the conclusion is that when the collision occurred between the train and the car, the train Argo Bromo Anggrek moved and collided with the KRL 5568A, and the signal was green, Sir?’ Lasarus asked.