Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the DPR Highlights Majority of Unguarded Level Crossings

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the DPR RI, Syaiful Huda, stated that there are approximately 3,000 to 4,000 level crossings on railway lines throughout Indonesia. Huda said that level crossings have long been a problem disrupting long-distance train and KRL Commuter Line traffic. Most of these level crossings are unguarded, leading to frequent accidents. This was stated by Huda in response to the accident where the Argo Bromo Anggrek train collided with a KRL Commuter Line at Bekasi Timur Station. As a working partner of the Ministry of Transportation, Commission V notes that out of around 4,000 level crossings, only 1,200 points are guarded. Guarding is carried out by PT KAI, local Transportation Agencies (Dishub), or regional governments. “Meanwhile, there are 2,600 points without guarding. The rest are illegal crossings,” said Huda. Huda admitted to receiving information that the collision between the long-distance Argo Bromo Anggrek train and the KRL Commuter Line at Bekasi Timur Station also involved an unguarded level crossing. “The information we received is that the JPL 85 level crossing near Bekasi Timur Station is an unguarded crossing,” he said. The politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB) also highlighted the high rate of public non-compliance in not prioritising train passages. His side regrets that many people force their way through level crossings by breaking through the guarding barriers. Even though there are already warnings at the location that a train is about to pass. “As a result, many cars and motorbikes, due to being in a hurry, get stuck in the middle of the crossing and trigger accident incidents,” said Huda. “This is also what may have happened at the JPL 85 crossing where a green taxi recklessly crossed and stalled in the middle of the tracks, thus being hit by KRL 5181,” he added.