Officials silent over train crash

Officials silent over train crash

CIREBON, West Java (JP): As the main railway station in Cirebon slowly returns to normal, railway officials are keeping quiet on the cause of the grisly accident that claimed 41 lives and injured 62 others on Sunday.

A hospital sign asks visitors not to talk to Maftuchin, the wounded engineer of one of the ill-fated trains involved in the accident.

Railway officials were silent when asked about the cause of the accident.

"We don't have the authority to do so. Just like Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar stated here, it's his office's authority," Cirebon station spokesman Hartono told The Jakarta Post.

The locomotive of the Cirebon Express train was involved in a head-on collision with the incoming Empu Jaya, a Yogyakarta-bound train from Jakarta. The engineer of the Empu Jaya and his assistant were among the fatalities.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) spokesman Gatot Wibowo said the cause of the accident was still unknown.

"We have questioned all the railway officials who were on duty prior to and after the accident. But there is no substantial conclusion as of yet. It looks like human error," Gatot told the Post.

In Cirebon's Pertamina hospital, a sign which reads "patients cannot receive visitors" was placed in front of a room where 48- year-old Maftuchin, the engineer of Cirebon Express, was being treated.

"He can hardly talk. For medical reasons, we cannot allow any visitors to see him," said hospital spokesman Dharlianti H. Pandelaki.

Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Hendardi urged Agum and related officials to resign over the accident.

"They should not wait for an order to resign. They should resign voluntarily out of their moral responsibility for the accident," Hendardi told the Post on Monday.

Chairwoman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Indah Suksmaningsih said that her organization would file a class action suit against the state railway company as fatal accidents had occurred frequently.

At least six train accidents have occurred since January, killing at least 26 people and injuring 47 people. Last month, another Empu Jaya passenger train hit a bus at a railway crossing in the Central Java town of Tegal, killing 13 people.

Indah said that the class action suit would be filed on behalf of the relatives of victims in the accident, claiming that PT KAI had failed to ensure the safety of its passengers.

She said she saw no significant effort made to improve the safety of passengers despite the frequent accidents.

"With the high frequency of accidents, the company has violated Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection, which stipulates that consumers have a right to security, safety and comfort in consuming any goods or services," she added.

Hendardi said he supported the foundation's move to file the suit against PT KAI, as common people were always the victims of the company's negligence.

"The last five incidents show that the Ministry of Transportation and PT KAI have no understanding that the signals are the most important part of the railway system," Indah told the Post.

Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) A.M. Fatwa said that an apology was not enough for an accident that claimed many lives.

"Concrete action, such as punishing the officials who are responsible for the accident, should follow the apology," Fatwa said outside the legislative building on Monday.

Asked whether Agum would resign over the accident, Fatwa said that there was no obligation for the minister to resign.

"It depends on his moral attitude as in Indonesia resignation has not become a moral issue for political officials," said Fatwa, a legislator from the National Mandate Party.

Indah said the Ministry of Transportation and PT KAI did not have in place a system to receive feedback or complaints from the public to improve their performance.

She urged the House to demand PT KAI employ an open management and operation system which would allow outsiders to audit the company.

"PT KAI should open up to the possibility of an audit by academics, individuals, journalists and NGOs which give special attention to transportation," she said.

Workshop

The mangled Empu Jaya locomotive will be repaired at PT KAI's workshop in Yogyakarta, Gatot Wibowo said.

An inspection of the railway tracks at the station revealed that the train did not apply its brakes when it collided with the Cirebon Express passenger train.

He said that the engineer might have been too tired to notice that there were two red lights, one about 500 meters and the other 200 meters before the main station.

By 10 p.m. on Sunday, one of the tracks at the station had been cleared following hours of heavy lifting to remove the train wreckage.

By Monday evening, northern bound trains had resumed operation, albeit with a four to five-hour delay.

"We are sure that by 7 p.m. trains will be back on schedule," Gatot said.

His statement contradicted PT KAI spokesman Zainal Abidin, who said that it would take three to four days for the train schedule to return to normal.

In Jakarta, most train departures were back to normal, with only some trains arriving late from various cities around Java.

"We need to rearrange some of the train routes, but we expect the trains to be back to normal in three to four days," Zainal Abidin told the Post.

At Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta at least six trains were canceled in order to reroute the trains.

Passengers who had bought tickets for those trains were offered a refund or an exchange of travel dates.

"Canceling these trains is not a favorite option but we must do it to rework the train routes," Zainal said.

Most passengers opted for a refund as PT KAI was unable to determine a definite schedule for most of its trains.

"I got a refund on my ticket and I'll take the bus this afternoon since there's no specific schedule for my route," said Dwi Henry, a passenger who bought a Taksaka II train ticket bound for Yogyakarta.

At Senen railway station, also in Central Jakarta, five trains were between two hours and five hours late as they had to be rerouted through Bandung, station chief Besar Susmiarto told the Post.

"We also had to cancel the Sawung Galing train bound for Kutoarjo in Central Java in order to adjust the other train schedules," Besar said.

In Yogyakarta two trains, the Argolawu and Taksaka II had to be canceled on Tuesday.

Railway officials said they had refunded 125 percent of the passengers' train fare for the cancellation.(o2/o6/23/25/ste/hbk)