House Commission V Highlights Train Signalling Issues in Bekasi Accident
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Syaiful Huda, has highlighted the train signalling issues, where the Argo Bromo Anggrek train that collided with the KRL in Bekasi, West Java, should have slowed down or stopped its journey when there was a disruption involving another train on its line.
He questioned whether the problem was a technical signalling issue or human negligence. According to him, after the KRL was involved in an incident with a “green taxi”, other KRL trains could stop their journeys, even though they were eventually hit by the long-distance train.
“The question is why didn’t the Argo Bromo Anggrek train stop its journey?” said Syaiful in his statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He said the incident was very concerning because at present, both long-distance trains and commuter trains have become the backbone of public transportation.
In addition, Syaiful stated that the state has also made significant investments to continue developing infrastructure, signalling technology, and operational procedures for train journeys.
Nevertheless, he is still awaiting the official investigation from the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) regarding the trigger for the fatal accident.
He said that if the KNKT investigation reveals that the Argo Bromo Anggrek driver felt pressured due to time constraints, there must be improvements in time management to avoid excessively pressuring drivers who neglect safety.
However, Syaiful added, if the investigation results show signalling problems, there must be a revolution in precise signalling.
“If the investigation results indicate that an unguarded level crossing was the trigger, then there must be fundamental improvements related to infrastructure,” he said.
According to him, train accidents in developed countries, although rare, have occurred. However, those accidents triggered revolutions in safety standards to reduce the potential for future accidents.
“We hope that the Argo Bromo Anggrek and Commuter Line accident will also become a turning point in formulating better safety standards for PT KAI going forward,” he said.
On the other hand, he also assessed that public compliance in prioritising train journeys is still relatively low. At present, he said, many people still recklessly cross barrier gates at level crossings even though there are signals indicating an approaching train.
“This may also have happened at the JPL 85 crossing where the ‘green taxi’ recklessly crossed and stalled in the middle of the tracks, causing it to be hit by KRL 5181,” he said.