Central Government Urged to Take Over Management of All Level Crossings

Jakarta, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Syaiful Huda, proposed that the central government take over the management of all rail level crossings in Indonesia. The proposal was presented to end the blame game between PT KAI and local governments regarding the management of level crossings.

Level crossings are not under KAI’s mandate. So the mandate is that if a crossing crosses a provincial road, the provincial government is responsible; if the crossing is on a district or city route, the district or city government is responsible. Therefore, he urged that all authority be transferred to the central government through the Ministry of Transport.

‘But we want to remove this altogether. I am among those urging everything to be taken over by the centre. Take over. By whom? The Ministry of Transport,’ he said.

According to Huda, if responsibility remains with local governments, the issue of level crossings will continue to recur due to budget constraints at the local level.

The challenge of handling level crossings is indeed heavy. The number of level crossings in Indonesia reaches thousands: ‘The challenge is real—we have 3,700 level crossings nationwide, around 2,500 of them on Java,’ Huda said.

Earlier reports indicated that President Prabowo Subianto asserted the government would carry out major improvements to level crossings across Indonesia. He noted around 1,800 level crossings on the island of Java, most of which are not well maintained.

‘Now, enough talk; we will finish all of that. I have ordered already; we will repair all those crossings,’ Prabowo said.

As a concrete step, the government plans to build official guard posts with personnel stationed there. The government has prepared a budget of around Rp 4 trillion to accelerate the handling of level crossings, to reduce future accident risks.

These steps followed a collision between a KRL Commuter Line and KA Argo Bromo Anggrek at Bekasi Timur Station on the night of Monday, 27 April 2026. The incident killed 15 people and left dozens injured.