T

he management of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia's (KAI) Operational Region V Purwokerto, Central Java, says there have been two apparently deliberate attempts to derail trains in the past few weeks.

Company spokesperson Surono said that the latest incident occurred on Monday at a section of track between Purwokerto and Karanggandul train stations. The KA Krakatau train encountered rocks of more than 40 centimeters in diameter piled on the tracks.

'It must have been done on purpose. It's impossible that it was accidental,' Surono said on Wednesday.

'The track is flat, with rice fields on both sides. There is no way that the rocks were not put there on purpose.'

Surono said KA Krakatau had just left Karanggandul Station and was nearing Purwokerto Station when engineer Kusbianto spotted the pile of rocks on the tracks. 'The train did hit the stones, but we are thankful that it did not cause an accident,' said Surono, adding that the case had been reported to the company's control center in Purwokerto, Central Java.

Surono said that whoever had placed the rocks there had endangered the safety of the passengers on board. If the train was going at high speed, it could have derailed.

He urged the police to thoroughly investigate the case because railway sabotage was categorized as a serious crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

A similar incident took place on the southern railway line in the Gandrungmangu area of Cilacap regency a few weeks ago.

Previously, in September 2013, the KA Turangga train serving West Java's Bandung and East Java's Surabaya in Cilacap almost derailed after the train crashed into piles of rocks and logs placed on the tracks.

According to Surono, the incidents were connected to his company's move to expel onboard vendors from the trains. He said bad blood from some of the affected parties could be to blame, though he declined to mention names.

Surono added that acts of sabotage would not change the company's mind on allowing vendors on the trains.

He said according to the law, vendors were allowed to operate only in zone 3 of a station (outside the station). They are not allowed to operate in zone 2 (halls, waiting rooms), zone 1 (platforms) or in train cars.

Separately, transportation expert Djoko Setijowarno of Soegijapranata Catholic University said that train lines were prone to sabotage especially along open, unguarded spaces.

He expressed concern over the attempted derailments, saying that they indeed endangered passengers' safety.

'Caution is needed in sabotage-prone areas. The police and local communities are needed to help safeguard the railway tracks,' Djoko said.

He also said that regional administrations had to take responsibility for the safety of tracks in their respective regions.

'It is possible that the perpetrators are individuals who feel disappointed by PT KAI policy,' he said, suggesting that education was needed to inform people of the severe legal consequences of endangering public safety.

'Perpetrators sometime have no idea that they could be charged for what they did,' Djoko said.