DPR criticised over Bekasi train crash, Transport Minister: a lesson for us

The House of Representatives’ Commission V has drawn attention to policymakers regarding the long-distance train accident (KAJJ) Argo Bromo Anggrek colliding with a KRL in Bekasi Timur, which killed dozens of passengers. Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the incident provides a lesson for his ministry. ‘Every accident, of course, yields an important lesson for us, and it must be followed by improvements,’ Dudy said after a working meeting at the DPR in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (21 May 2026). Dudy said his ministry is open to all input and criticism. He noted that public criticism is purely for the improvement of Indonesia’s transport system going forward. ‘Certainly, and we are always, with open arms, ready to receive every input, suggestion, and criticism. This is for improvement and we must fix it,’ he said. It is known that Commission V of the DPR held a working meeting with Dudy Purwagandhi, KNKT, and KAI regarding the Bekasi Timur train accident. Chairman Lasarus of Commission V questioned why such conditions could arise. ‘As we know, there is public debate about whether there is room in the railway’s own system or the system controlled by PT KAI’s operator to be able to control the situation? Will this happen again or not? That is a question from the public,’ Lasarus said at the opening of the meeting. Then, he questioned how to mitigate similar incidents. He noted that with the large number of level crossings currently, there is potential for similar incidents to recur. ‘Certainly the chance of a similar incident occurring is very possible, given the many level crossings, especially those that are unmanned. If that happens, how does the system control the situation? That is what we want to evaluate today,’ he said. Then, he highlighted the reason the Argo Bromo Anggrek train could not be controlled and collided with a stopped KRL. He asked whether the current system can not control such a situation. ‘We, I, do not claim to know the details of railway operations, but common sense tells us that if the system experiences a fault, surely the timetable of each train is known—what is it called, Minister—train schedule? Gapeka, the Train Schedule, in that chart you can surely see where this train is, and roughly its position when this happened,’ he explained. ‘Then, the headway between trains, if we set headways of 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 8 minutes, or whatever is prescribed, there are technical calculations. So have those calculations recorded whether in the event of an accident ahead we can manage the situation within the available minutes?’ he continued. Lasarus emphasised that what has happened cannot be undone. However, he judged it would be unwise if the incident recurs in the future. ‘What has passed cannot be retrieved, Sir; but if the same incident repeats, it is not very wise to say “Sir, forgive me”; it is not very smart if it happens in the same hole twice,’ he asserted. He also stressed the importance of the government being honest about the situation. According to him, if there is dishonesty, everyone lies to the victims. ‘Because this concerns lives, when I spoke on the phone with the Minister, ’Minister, we must disclose it as it is, because this is our responsibility to the victims,’ you know, to the lives that were lost; if we lie now we are lying to those who have already perished who experienced this accident,’ he said.