The pain and strain of taking Indonesia's rundown trains

The pain and strain of taking Indonesia's rundown trains

A string of train accidents over the past three weeks, which
coincided with the post Idul Fitri holidays, has given rise to
concern among the public about safety on our railways. The
Jakarta Post's Nana Rukmana takes a closer look at the causes of
the accidents, and at how PT KAI is trying to cope with the many
problems it faces.

Going by train ... tut ... tut ... tut ....
Who wants to join us?
To Bandung, Surabaya ..........

All of us know that these words are part of a popular song that
is often sung by school children across the nation. The song
describes the joy of children when riding on a train.

But recently, the song seems to be rather out of place. A
string of accidents occurred on Java's north coast line during
the post Idul Fitri holidays, when thousands of people crowded
aboard whatever means of transportation was available, including
trains, to get home for the holidays.

The first accident happened on Nov. 28, when the economy-class
Gaya Baru Malam train derailed at Cisanggarung bridge, which
links Central and West Java. The next day, two tank cars from a
tanker train carrying diesel overturned some 200 meters east of
Tegal railway station.

This was followed by another accident the following day, a
Sunday, when the Kertajaya economy-class train derailed in
Margadana subdistrict, Tegal, Central Java.

It was the first time in Indonesian history that train
accidents occurred on three consecutive days on the same line.
Worse, two further derailments occurred last week and on Monday
at Senen train station in Jakarta and in Garut regency in West
Java respectively. No fatalities were reported in any of the
incidents.

But, they led to widespread disruption of rail traffic on the
north coast line.

The joyful experience, as described by the song, has vanished
and been replaced by one of apprehension.

The public quickly blamed PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI),
the sole train operator in the country, for the accidents. They
said that the company had to be held responsible.

But, the company is apparently unwilling to take the blame.
They said that they had worked very hard to make sure that
travelers would have safe and convenient journeys over the Idul
Fitri holidays.

Suhartono, a spokesman for PT KAI's Operations Region III in
Cirebon, said that in order to serve the public well his division
had rejected all requests from its 1,400 employees to take leave
during the holidays. The employees were not allowed to take leave
from Nov. 18 to Dec. 7 for the Idul Fitri holidays. The same
prohibition will apply from Dec. 20 to Jan. 5 for the Christmas
and New Year celebrations.

The ban on leave during the annual holidays is applied every
year.

The 1,400 employees work in 34 train stations in Central and
West Java, stretching from Tanjung Rasa train station in the West
Java town of Karawang to the Central Java town of Brebes, said
Suhartono.

On normal days, each station manages to see 84 trains pass
through. The frequency of trains increases during the annual
holidays.

"Some 100 trains pass through the station in the holidays,"
said Bidjak, the head of Cirebon station.

He admitted that he was always dogged by anxiety during the
holidays because there was a greater change of accidents. His
fears were borne out over the recent holidays.

But, Suhartono quickly asserted that the accidents were not
caused by human error, rather by obsolete equipment and rolling
stock.

"The employees of the company try very hard to remain alert,
but the accidents still keep occurring. The accidents stem from
the old tracks, the train information system and the age of the
rolling stock.

"Maybe human error indirectly contributed to the accidents.
But, our preliminary investigations reveal that the accidents
were caused by damaged brakes, wheel problems and old tracks,"
said Suhartono.

He said that, for example, the cars of the Kertajaya train and
the tanker train were produced more than 20 years ago, while
those of the Gaya Baru Malam train were almost 40 years old.

The poor quality of railway equipment was admitted by the
president director of the company, Oemar Berto.

Given the problems faced, the government and PT KAI will
immediately discuss an action plan to improve the situation.

The plan includes how to replace old rolling stock, track and
cars.

J.A. Barata, a spokesman for the Land Transportation
Directorate General at the Ministry of Communications, said that
the government would, for example, immediately replace some 500
kilometers of old track.

The government has just built a new double track railroad
between Cikampek and Cirebon, which was recently inaugurated by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

But, that is not enough. The government has to pay attention
to the poor salaries paid to PT KAI employees in order to ensure
professionalism in their work.

An employee of the company, who has been working with it for
seven years, for example, is only paid Rp 900,000 per month
(US$105.9).

"The salary and the risks that they have to face in the
workplace are from commensurate," said Bidjak.

He said that improving the welfare of employees would help
them become more professional, which would in the end reduce the
number of train accidents in the country.