Landslide delays train departure

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Trains were delayed for up to four hours on Thursday, due to a landslide on the border of Ciganea and Sukatani, West Java, about 113 kilometers west of Bandung.

At least five trains all traveling on Bandung and Jakarta routes were delayed on Thursday due to the landslide, said Sukendar Mulya, spokesman of state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI), in Bandung.

Sukendar said the landslide, which occurred at dawn on Thursday, covered the railway tracks with rocks and soil.

Employees of PT KAI discovered the debris and worked quickly to remove it from the tracks.

Railway operations resumed at 8.29 a.m. Sukendar told West Java Governor Danny Setiawan, who visited the train station in Bandung.

In order to prevent possible landslides, the West Java administration would soon send heavy machinery, including excavators, to some landslide-prone areas near railway lines in the province, Danny said.

The government has allocated Rp 10 billion (US$1 million) for possible natural disasters during the Idul Fitri holiday.