MTI: Elimination of Level Crossings in Dense Corridors Must Be Accelerated

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Transport Society (MTI) has stated that the elimination of railway level crossings in dense corridors must be accelerated to prevent congestion and accidents. “The elimination of level crossings in dense corridors must be accelerated. With high train frequencies, the closure times at crossings will become longer and potentially cause vehicle queues,” said MTI Advisory Board Member Djoko Setijowarno in Jakarta on Tuesday. He added that, given the still low discipline of road users, the risk of violations and accidents will continue to increase. “Therefore, the construction of non-level crossings such as underpasses and overpasses needs to be prioritised based on risk,” he said. For information, the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has revealed the initial chronology of the suspected train accident at Bekasi Timur Station, West Java, which began when a commuter rail electric train (KRL) on the Bekasi–Cikarang route struck a vehicle at level crossing JPL 85, thus triggering the incident. “Based on the initial chronology, the accident incident began when the KRL trainset on the Bekasi–Cikarang route struck a vehicle at level crossing JPL 85,” said Minister of Transportation Dudy Purwagandhi in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday. As a result of the incident, the KRL trainset had to be evacuated and designated as an Extraordinary Journey (PLB) with code 5181 because it stopped serving and ran outside the regular schedule. Consequently, officers stopped another KRL trainset with code PLB 5568 heading to Cikarang at the platform of Bekasi Timur Station. However, the Argo Bromo Anggrek train (KA 4) on the Jakarta–Surabaya route did not manage to stop fully, thus becoming involved in a collision incident with the stationary KA PLB 5568. The Ministry of Transportation continues to coordinate intensively with all related parties to ensure the evacuation process runs optimally.