KAI Commissioner: Railway Crossings Are Local Government's Responsibility, Not KAI's

KAI’s Chairman (Komut) Said Aqil Siradj highlighted that railway crossings are one of the causes of train accidents. He stated that the construction of railway crossings is the responsibility of local governments.

“(The obligation) lies with local governments, regional authorities. Yes, on the border of the Ministry of Transportation, coordinating with regional heads, the Ministry of Home Affairs as well. That is not KAI’s obligation,” said Said Aqil after visiting victims at Bekasi City Hospital on Tuesday (28/4/2026).

“KAI’s obligations are only to operate the trains and collect tickets, that’s it. So many people don’t understand; I myself didn’t understand before becoming Chairman. I thought the crossings were KAI’s responsibility, (but) they’re not,” he added.

Said explained that his side has frequently reminded and invited local governments to build railway crossings according to procedures. However, this has not yet been implemented.

“Yes, we have often urged them; even in East Java, we gathered all the regents in that area. The time, okay, collaboration, yes, but there has been no implementation yet,” he said.

He noted that building railway crossings indeed requires a large budget. However, he stressed that it is for the sake of saving lives.

“Building a good crossing costs Rp 3 billion each. It’s not cheap,” he said.

He mentioned that the train accident incident involving the Argo Bromo Anggrek and KRL at Bekasi Timur Station will receive attention. Tomorrow, his side will conduct an evaluation.

“We will definitely have a meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m., evaluated tomorrow. Alhamdulillah, the President has quickly visited here,” he revealed.