Executive train derails at Gambir station, hundreds stranded

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Taksaka I executive class train derailed at Gambir railway station here early on Tuesday, causing the departure of four other trains to be postponed and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

The Taksaka I train, serving the Yogyakarta-Jakarta route, derailed at about 5 a.m. Within two hours, however, the line had been cleared.

But several Jakarta commuter trains had to stop at Manggarai railway station or were rerouted due to the accident.

An official at the station told The Jakarta Post that the Taksaka I train derailed when it was about to cross from one track to another.

"The operative responsible opened the points too soon," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Meanwhile, several passengers at the station commented that the incident was "old hat".

"We have all experienced such inconveniences before, haven't we? PT KAI (state-owned railway company) never serves us properly as passengers," Ali told the Post.

Separately, Gatot Wibowo, the company's spokesman, rejected the possibility that frequent derailments across the country were caused by poor maintenance.

He said they were mostly the result of human error or vandalism against trains or the tracks.

"But, yes, it is true that sometimes derailments happen because the wheels are damaged," he said.

PT KAI, according to Gatot, requires continuous checking of trains and tracks, and railroad officials examine them in stages, including daily up to annual checks.

However, Gatot admitted that PT KAI sometimes delayed checks if "we don't have sufficient locomotives".

Currently PT KAI owns 358 locomotives, 20 of which are under repair. The locomotives have to serve hundreds of routes around the country every day.

PT KAI has an income of some Rp 600 billion each year, 60 percent of which is used for train and track maintenance.

Apparently, this money is not sufficient to cover maintenance. Therefore, to provide spare parts for the trains, PT KAI has to cannibalize them from idle rolling stock.

"That's the way out (for providing spare parts). It's not something awful. Bus operators do it too," he said.