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.