Trains disrupted for 12 hours

JAKARTA (JP): Rail services between Jakarta and Bekasi were disrupted for almost 12 hours from Wednesday night due to the derailment of a coal train at Jatinegara station, East Jakarta.

Zaenal Abidin, public relations chief for state-owned rail company PT Kereta Api Indonesia's Jakarta office, said here on Thursday that after repairs on Thursday morning, Jakarta-Bekasi train services had returned to normal.

He said that the coal train, which was transporting 44 tons of coal from Cigading, Cilegon, to Bekasi, West Java, was derailed at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

He said there were no casualties in the accident. But he admitted that the derailment had disrupted services on the Jakarta-Bekasi line. Many passengers from both Jakarta and Bekasi were left stranded for several hours before they were taken aboard diesel trains serving other routes.

"We had to lift the wagons from the track by crane. And to do that we had to cut off the current temporarily," Zaenal said, adding that as a result the railroad company had to halt the operation of all electric trains serving the Jakarta-Bekasi route. (bnt)