When Illegal Railway Crossings Proliferate, Public Discipline Becomes the Key to Safety

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The collision incident between the Cikarang route Commuter Line and the long-distance Argo Bromo Anggrek train on Monday night (27/4/2026) was inseparable from a taxi breakdown at a level crossing near Bekasi Timur Station. Although the investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion, the taxi breakdown contributed to the timing of the subsequent train journey. In addition to the Bekasi case, there was another incident involving a level crossing in Grobogan, Central Java, in the early hours of Friday (1/5/2026). That incident resulted in four deaths and injuries to other passengers. According to data from PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Persero, there are 3,888 level crossings in the Java and Sumatra regions. KAI, along with other stakeholders, has actually closed 2,220 illegal crossings since 2017 as a risk control measure at vulnerable points. However, their numbers have instead increased due to various factors, including extensive development in the local areas. “These level crossings often appear in developing areas. What was previously without roads now has roads. Rat roads, shortcuts, and so on,” said the Head of Traffic Directorate of Metro Jaya Police, Senior Commissioner Pol Komarudin, when contacted by Kompas.com on Thursday (30/4/2026). Moreover, illegal crossings that have been closed are often reopened by local residents. Therefore, Komarudin urged residents to comply with the rules. For residents crossing intersections between roads and railway tracks, they should be careful for safety reasons. This safety is not only personal safety but also the safety of others. According to Komarudin, being careful when crossing railway crossings should be commonplace. “It is very commonplace to be careful when crossing intersections; even crossing ordinary intersections requires caution, let alone crossing railway crossings where trains may not be visible from which direction, so one must be extra careful,” he said. He continued that this is where the function of signs and barriers equipped with signals is installed at every crossing.