Fiery carriage disrupts train services in Java

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

Railroad traffic across Java ground to a halt for up to four hours on Wednesday following an overnight accident involving an Argo Bromo Anggrek I executive train here.

A spokesman for the railway company PT KAI, Suhartono, said all east and westbound trains were expected to arrive at their respective destinations a few hours late, to the dismay of thousands of passengers. The Cirebon Express from Jakarta to this West Java sultanate town was the latest train.

Apart from the Cirebon Express, the chaos also affected the Argo Muria heading to Semarang from Jakarta, the Bima, plying the Jakarta-Surabaya route, the Argo Bromo from Surabaya to Jakarta, the Argo Dwipangga heading to Surakarta from Jakarta and the Taksaka which was bound for Yogyakarta from Jakarta.

All trains make a mandatory stop in Cirebon, some 300 kilometers east of Jakarta.

Suhartono said the railway traffic gradually returned to normal in the afternoon.

The Argo Bromo Anggrek made an emergency stop in Pabuaran village in Subang, some 76 kilometers west of Cirebon station after its power generating car caught fire around 5 p.m. local time. The train was on its way to Jakarta from Surabaya.

An electrical short circuit has been blamed for the fire.

All 350 passengers on board left the train unscathed.

It was the second fire on a passenger train in less than four months. Late in March a fire gutted the cafetaria car of a Gumarang executive train plying the Jakarta-Surabaya route in Wedu village, 10 kilometers west of the Central Java town of Blora. No casualties were reported except for a few jangled nerves.

Suhartono said train operator Mochamad Cholik acted quickly by separating the blazing car, which was attached just behind the locomotive, from the rest of train.

While the locomotive and the generator car were tugged to Tanjungrasa station two kilometers away from the scene of the accident, and the passenger carriages were taken back to Pabuaran station by a Cirebon Express train.

Suhartono refused to reveal the financial losses PT KAI suffered from the accident. He said a power generator car cost some Rp 2.5 billion (US$281,000) six years ago.

Separately, Subang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Sugeng dismissed speculation that the incident was masterminded by a certain group who wished to sabotage the train.

"Our preliminary investigation did not find any indication that the train was caused by arson. There is strong evidence that a short circuit was the prime cause of the accident," Bambang said.