Nine officials quizzed over runaway train

Nine officials quizzed over runaway train

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

State-owned railway company PT KAI said on Tuesday nine employees
were being questioned in relation to a recent accident involving
a train that rolled without a driver for up to 50 kilometers into
the center of the capital.

KAI spokesman Patria Supriyoso said the employees from the
railway stations in Bogor, West Java, and Pasar Minggu and
Manggarai, Jakarta, had been questioned since Monday by the
company's investigative team.

A preliminary investigation showed that the nine suspects were
reckless while on duty during the accident.

"An investigation into the case has concluded that a parking
block was not installed properly," Patria told a news conference
at his office in Bandung, West Java.

"The employees failed to activate the parking block system,
making it easier for the train to start moving once the tracks
were vibrated by the passing of other trains," he added.

He declined to disclose the names of the nine officials.

The accident took place last Friday when the driverless,
eight-carriage train rolled from its parking spot at Bogor
station to Manggarai station at a speed of about 60 kilometers
per hour.

The train stopped only after it encountered a rising gradient
in Cikini, Central Jakarta.

KAI staffer Jayadi, who was on duty at Bogor station's first
signal box, was the first person to realize that the train was
rolling without a driver.

He immediately reported the case to his superior at the same
station, according to Patria.

No fatalities or injuries were reported after the train's
driverless journey.

However, a KAI employee, Rahmat Hidayat, jumped into the train
when it started to roll, but was unable to activate an emergency
brake to stop it.

Rahmat later alerted all staff members at railway stations
between Bogor and Jakarta to clear the tracks while the
driverless train continued.

Patria said his company would discipline the employees blamed
for failing to park the train properly.

They could face administrative sanctions, as stipulated in
Government Regulation No. 30/1980 on civil servants, he said.

Patria conceded the recent incident was not the first of its
kind. In 1967, a driverless train moved from its parking spot in
Bandung station to the West Java town, Cicalengka.

A student from Bandung-based Parahiyangan University, who was
crossing the intersection on Jl. Merdeka, was killed after being
hit by the train, he added.

The country's railways are in a chronic state, with frequent
derailments and other, more deadly accidents. Passengers
frequently cling to the sides of packed carriages or perch on the
roofs.

During the recent Idul Fitri holidays alone, three trains
derailed on Java's north coast railroad on three consecutive
days. No casualties were reported, however.

KAI management has blamed aging trains and tracks, as well as
other infrastructure of the company, as the cause of the frequent
accidents.