Crossing Gate Still Open When Airport Train Struck Truck in Poris
Police are investigating the cause of a collision between a trailer truck and a commuter train on the Airport-Tangerang route at the Poris level crossing in Batuceper District, Tangerang City, on Friday morning (20 February). Preliminary findings indicate that the railway crossing gate was still open when the truck passed through.
Head of Traffic at Tangerang City Metropolitan Police, Senior Commissioner Nopta Histaris Suzan, said his unit received the accident report in the morning and immediately proceeded to the scene to conduct initial investigations.
“A traffic accident occurred between a trailer truck and a commuter train running from the airport towards Tangerang. From our findings, the trailer truck became stuck on the tracks while crossing the level crossing,” Nopta said at the scene.
According to him, whilst the truck was stuck on the tracks, the train passed through and struck its midsection, precisely between the truck cab and its trailer cargo.
The impact caused the train carriages to derail, and traffic flow around Jalan Maulana Hasanudin was temporarily paralysed. Police implemented traffic management measures to ease congestion, whilst coordinating with relevant parties on the evacuation of the truck body and materials obstructing the tracks.
“The evacuation is still ongoing. We are also conducting further investigation and questioning the driver, the driver’s assistant, witnesses, and the crossing gate operator,” he said.
Regarding the condition of the crossing gate, Nopta stated that based on witness accounts and CCTV footage, the gate was still open when the truck crossed the tracks.
“The CCTV shows there was no attempt to close the gate — it was still open. However, the warning siren had been sounded by the operator,” he explained.
Police are continuing to investigate the precise cause of the accident, including the possibility of driver negligence or technical factors at the crossing.
Although the incident disrupted train services to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and caused lengthy traffic jams around the area, Nopta confirmed there were no fatalities.
“Thankfully, there were no casualties. The train was empty, with no passengers on board,” he concluded.