PT KAI: Collaboration key to enhancing safety at railway crossings

Jakarta (ANTARA) - PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) or KAI states that collaboration among all parties is the key to enhancing safety at railway crossings. “In my view, collaboration, because from collaboration we will find all the solutions. So what is being problematic today regarding safety at crossings is precisely the keyword: collaboration,” said Director of Safety and Security at PT KAI, Dadan Rudiansyah, during the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) “Railway Crossing Governance: Challenges, Solutions, and Collective Commitment” at the ANTARA Heritage Center, Jakarta, on Wednesday. According to Dadan, safety is actually the responsibility of all parties. “Actually, safety is what we all must be responsible for. So this word collaboration is very important to us. All stakeholders must collaborate to create safety,” he said. In addition to causing fatalities, accidents at railway crossings also result in material losses in the form of damage to facilities, both from KAI’s side and the public. State-owned railway support facilities such as tracks and signalling also suffer damage if tempering incidents occur, Dadan stated. Furthermore, he continued, accidents at railway crossings can lead to disruptions in train travel, causing delays, passenger build-ups, and diversions to other modes of transport. For information, level railway crossings are one of the high-risk points for transportation safety in Indonesia. The existence of crossings that are opened without permission and without safety standards becomes a significant factor in the high potential for accidents, fatalities, and disruptions to train operations and road traffic. On the same occasion, Head of the Railway Section at the East Java Provincial Transportation Office, Rendra Wahyudi, said that the provincial government has already supported improvements in safety at level crossings, which are included in the East Java Provincial Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD), with funding also prepared by the East Java Province. “So with this budget, we are collaborating with regencies/cities,” said Rendra. Actually, for East Java Province, because its authority relates to road status, namely provincial roads, the East Java Provincial Government has 22 level crossing points, he said. “Of the 22 level crossing points, 20 of them are already guarded by PT KAI, and the remaining two level crossing points we have built posts and gates for, as well as prepared human resources for those two points,” said Rendra.