Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
In an attempt to curtail the number of rail accidents, PT Kerata Api Indonesia has instructed all of its drivers to reduce train speeds by up to 20 percent, starting Friday.
It is likely that trains will be late to arrive and depart as a result of the change.
Company spokesman Noor Hamidi said all train drivers had been informed of the new instructions.
""With the (new) instruction, a train that normally has a speed of 100 km per hour should now travel at 80 km per hour. It's better to be late but safe,"" he told journalists in Bandung on Friday.
Trains serving both short- and long-distance routes will be affected by the new policy. Economy class trains will be the most heavily affected as they must slow down to make way for executive class trains on the same network.
The Argo Gede executive class train from Jakarta to Bandung on Friday left the capital at 8 a.m. and arrived at its destination 45 minutes late. It had previously pulled in to Bandung at 10:15 a.m.
Noor said the company was also currently conducting a safety audit of 1,643 train cars.
The audit is being conducted in cooperation with the Transportation Ministry's Railway Directorate General, the National Transportation Safety Commission and an independent team.
Of the total cars, 283 are executive class, 297 business class and 445 economy class. Generator cars, restaurant cars and electric commuter train cars are also part of the audit.
Noor said that 603 of the cars were more than 30 years old.
In Java, the audit will take place at Manggarai station in Jakarta, Tegal in Central Java and Gubeng in Surabaya, while in Sumatra, West Sumatra's Padang and Lahat and Medan in North Sumatra would also hold audits.
Noor said that there had been no significant decrease in passenger numbers following several recent train accidents.
On Wednesday, two separate trains derailed within hours of each other near Nganjuk railway station in East Java. No one was killed in either accident.
On Monday, the Bengawan passenger train derailed in Cirebon, West Java. None of the train's 600 passengers were killed in the accident, the train's second in a month.
The Begawan train had come off the tracks at Banyumas in Central Java on Jan. 16. The train's cars plunged off a bridge into a river, killing five people and injuring 200 passengers.
