Train derails in Cirebon, thousand stranded

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

Thousands of people at several railway stations had to delay their trips on Thursday after the Tawang Mas train serving Semarang-Senen (Jakarta) line derailed in Cirebon on Wednesday. No fatalities were reported.

Railway transportation from West to Central and East Java via Cirebon was totally paralyzed for at least four hours after the economy-class Tawang Mas train No. 166 derailed at about 3 p.m.

Some of the 800 passengers continued their journey to Semarang by bus or other modes of transportation on Wednesday afternoon.

The railway company, PT KAI, provided them with money for their fares.

Four executive trains -- the Argo Lawu, the Taksaka, the Argo Bromo and the Cirebon Ekspres -- had to cancel their scheduled trips to and from Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Purwokerto and Surabaya.

Activity along the railway line returned on Thursday morning and trains could use the tracks, although at a reduced speed.

However, the effect of Wednesday's disruption was still evident on Thursday when thousands of passengers were stranded at Gambir station in Jakarta.

"The Fajar and the Taksaka trains bound for Yogyakarta were canceled," Ardiansyah, who wanted to travel to Yogyakarta, said.

"PT KAI railway company returned all the passengers' money," he said.

On Monday in Purwakarta, West Java, police arrested six people, mostly teenagers, for placing a two-meter steel bar across the railway track, causing a Jakarta-Bandung train to derail.

No fatalities were reported in the accident, but railway schedules were disrupted for hours.

A spokesman for PT KAI in Cirebon, Suhartono, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that a team had been set up to investigate the latest accident. "The result will be made available in the next two weeks. The train driver, Bambang, and other employees in charge have been questioned by the team. They all said everything was OK. They did not see any irregularities.

"Initial assumption is that unstable earth caused the accident, or hard objects falling from the train cars caused the accident. We have not found any indication of human error so far."

According to Suhartono, the site of Wednesday's accident was only 15 meters from the spot where the Empu Jaya train hit the Cirebon Ekspress train on Sept. 2.

The collision claimed 40 lives.

Asked about the financial losses PT Kai suffered from the accident, Suhartono said it was still being estimated.

"A delay usually prompts more than half of the passengers to cancel their trip. PT KAI has had to provide the stranded passengers with drinks and snacks. The losses must be huge."

Meanwhile PT KAI head office spokesman Gatot Wibowo said in Bandung on Thursday that technical error was behind the accident. He did not go into detail.

"PT KAI in cooperation with the West Java Police are focusing on the security of the Jakarta-Bandung tracks, which are vulnerable to vandalism.

"Railway track supervisors found a wooden sleeper on the track in Ciganea, Purwakarta, this afternoon," he said told the Post from Purwakarta by phone.

He said he was in Purwakarta with West Java Police chief Brig. Gen. Sudirman Ali to disseminate information to locals on railway safety.