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KAI improves safety after train crash as probe continues
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This aerial photo shows two trains on Jan. 5, 2024, after they collided in Cicalengka, West Java province. (AFP/Timur Matahari)
T
he country’s railway operator and the transportation safety agency have issued new safety procedures following Friday’s head-on crash between two trains in West Java, as investigators continue their probe into the fatal incident.
On Friday morning, a KA Turangga intercity train running from Surabaya in East Java to Bandung city, collided head on with a Greater Bandung commuter train serving the Padalarang-Cicalengka route. The crash happened amid rice fields in Cicalengka, Bandung regency in West Java.
The Turangga train was carrying 287 passengers at the time of the incident, while 191 people were on board the commuter train.
The incident killed four railway workers: the commuter train’s engineer and his assistant, a station security guard and a Turangga train attendant. No passengers were killed in the incident, but 44 people were injured, state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) reported.
To this end, KAI, in tandem with the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) and the Transportation Ministry’s railways directorate general, have issued new safety measures, including improving the railway network’s communication system, as an ongoing investigation has yet been able to pinpoint the cause of the incident.
KNKT chief Soerjanto Tjahjono said that these safety measures included the use of telephones and signals to coordinate between station operators before a train could be given clearance to pass through the tracks.
“Trains from both directions will [not be allowed to depart] until a safety clearance has been issued by the next station. This additional procedure will be implemented because we still don’t know the cause of [Friday’s] incident,” he said, as quoted by Kompas.id on Saturday.
