Public Works Minister announces joint task force to prevent railway flooding
Semarang, Central Java — Indonesia’s Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo announced the establishment of a joint task force with railway operators to prevent monsoon flooding from affecting train tracks and disrupting the crucial Eid holiday exodus.
“We will establish a joint task force with the railway team to ensure that whatever happens, monsoon rains or floods do not overflow onto the railway tracks,” Hanggodo stated in Semarang on Sunday.
During a Ramadan inspection tour focused on assessing the readiness of national roads for the Eid travel period, the Minister reviewed measures to protect railway infrastructure. Recent incidents in Pekalongan and Grobogan had seen tracks completely submerged during heavy rainfall.
“During the Eid exodus, railway transport is one of the most critical transportation options for those travelling to Java and Jakarta,” the Minister explained.
Hanggodo indicated he would formally correspond with the Transport Minister regarding the matter, as preventing railway flooding requires coordinated effort between the Public Works Ministry and the Transport Ministry.
“We have discussed this at length, and there are indeed multiple issues to address. I will likely send an official letter to the Transport Minister with recommendations for joint action. This cannot be handled by Public Works alone; it requires collaboration between our two ministries,” he said.
The railway line between Pekalongan and Sragi stations on Java’s northern coast, which had been inundated with floodwaters reaching 10 centimetres above the rail head, reopened on Saturday, 17 January 2026, following the recession of flooding in the region. PT KAI’s communications manager for the Semarang division reported that the affected section could be traversed at restricted speeds of 10 kilometres per hour.
The flooding, which began early Saturday morning, had forced PT KAI to cancel multiple train services departing from Semarang and implement alternative routing for westbound to eastbound services during the disruption period.