Why Are the Special Women's Carriages on the KRL at the Rear?
JAKARTA — The placement of special women’s carriages at the end of the KRL Commuter Line train set has again come under spotlight following an accident between the Cikarang-bound KRL number PLB 5568A and the KA Argo Bromo Anggrek train on the Gambir–Surabaya Pasar Turi route at Bekasi Timur Station on Monday night (27/4/2026).
An explanation regarding the position of those carriages was actually provided by PT KAI after the incident involving a collision between two KRL train sets at Juanda Station in 2015.
At that time, the President Director of PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ), Muhammad Nurul Fadhila, explained that placing the special women’s carriages at the front and rear of the train set was the result of considerations for operations and passenger accessibility at the crowded stations in Jabodetabek.
“If placed in the middle, they would find it difficult to reach them. Imagine at Tanah Abang where it’s very crowded. With the current arrangement, it’s much easier,” Fadhila said at the Jakarta Railway Center building in September 2015.
He gave an example that passengers at major stations like Kota or Tanah Abang would exit more quickly if they were in the end carriages.
“For example, if someone arrives at Kota in the frontmost train, they would certainly get off faster,” he said.
Fadhila emphasised that the 2015 KRL accident incident did not change the policy on placing the special women’s carriages.
“Because at the time of planning, we certainly do not want accidents to happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the latest accident at Bekasi Timur involving the KRL and KA Argo Bromo Anggrek resulted in 15 KRL passengers dying and 84 people being injured.
The victims were evacuated to several hospitals, including RSUD Bekasi, RS Bella Bekasi, RS Primaya, RS Mitra Plumbon Cibitung, RS Bakti Kartini, RS Siloam Bekasi Timur, RS Hermina, as well as RS Mitra Keluarga Bekasi Timur and Barat.
Ten body bags of the train accident victims were then taken to RS Polri Kramat Jati for identification.
Here are 10 of the 15 victims identified at RS Polri Kramat Jati: