TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Improved commuter line leads to urgent need for safer crossings

Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, April 30, 2018

Share This Article

Change Size

Improved commuter line leads to urgent need for safer crossings Bintaro Permai overpass is not the only infrastructure at a railway crossing that has been finished this year. Jakarta Bina Marga Road Agency has also completed the Cipinang Lontar overpass that crosses above the Cipinang railway crossing in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.  (Kompas.com/Andreas Lukas Altobeli)

T

he rapid improvement in the commuter line service has led to an urgent need for Greater Jakarta to have more overpass and underpass railway crossings, given the high number of accidents as well as rush-hour traffic congestion at railway crossings. However, the development of such infrastructure has been slow.

Of the total of 170 “official” railway crossings across Greater Jakarta, Sukabumi in West Java and Merak in Banten, state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia and the government have built only 70 overpass and underpass crossings.

One of them is Bintaro Permai railway crossing in South Jakarta, completed four long years after a deadly collision between a commuter train and a gasoline tanker on Dec. 9, 2013.

The accident left seven dead and more than 90 people injured. The railway level crossing was closed afterward but the overpass crossing was only completed last month.

Now, the new infrastructure has changed life around the once deadly crossing.

Residents nearby said the traffic in the area had become better-organized after the overpass was built. Previously, every time a train passed the level crossing, which could be as frequently as once every five minutes during rush hour, a boom would descend and block all road users from crossing, causing a long queue.

“In the past, during peak hours in the morning and evening, the congestion around the crossing was terrible, everyone from all directions wanted to cross the railway track,” said Mamat, 40, a street food seller who also witnessed the 2013 accident.

The railway crossing was the shortest and fastest way to reach various locations.  

Ria, 55, a resident of Bintaro Jaya, lives only about 200 meters from the railway crossing. She said she was glad the overpass had been built. “Now, we can cross safely if we want to go to Bintaro Market. Even though the route is longer, but that is not a problem as long as we are safe,” she said recently. 

As a local resident, she and her family had witnessed many accidents at the railway crossing involving motorists and trains.  “Now since the railway crossing was closed it has not happened again,” she said. Pedestrians still cross the level crossing through a hole in the wall though, she said.

More to come

Bintaro Permai overpass is not the only infrastructure at a railway crossing that has been finished this year. Jakarta Bina Marga Road Agency has also completed the Cipinang Lontar overpass that crosses above the Cipinang railway crossing in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. 

Bina Marga’s intersection construction division head Hananto Krisna said the agency would still work on more overpasses and underpasses at railway crossings this year. 

“Several plans in some locations are still being studied, for example, there is a plan to build an overpass at Tanjung Barat [in South Jakarta]. We’re still surveying there,” said Hananto recently. Another plan is an overpass at the Cakung railway crossing, the agency said. He did not mention an exact number of planned projects, however.  

The development of overpass and underpass crossings is challenging, he said. Problems range from technical difficulties at the specific locations and conditions and land acquisition.   

 

Managing 'unofficial' crossings

Even though the development of overpasses and underpasses is continuing, Jakarta and the surrounding cities still have a huge number of poorly supervised railway crossings.  Dubbed “unofficial” by KAI, the crossings are often made by locals to enhance their mobility. They dismantle parts of the fences along the railway tracks to allow pedestrians and vehicles to cross the tracks.

From a total of 461 railway crossings across KAI’s Operation Area 1—which includes Serang, Merak, Rangkasbitung in Banten and Sukabumi, Karawang, Nambo in West Java—only 170 are official and supervised by either KAI, local administrations or the private sector. The rest are supervised by locals. 

KAI’s Operation Area 1 spokesperson Edy Kuswoyo said the company was closing several crossings that were considered dangerous. One of them is a railway crossing in the Roxy area on Jl. KH Hasyim Ashari and one on Jl. Angkasa, Kemayoran, both in Central Jakarta. 

However, many dangerous crossings still operate, including the Volvo railway crossing at Pasar Minggu, the Bendi railway crossing in Tanah Kusir, both in South Jakarta, Karet railway crossing near Karet Station in Central Jakarta, and Cakung railway crossing and Matraman railway crossing both in East Jakarta.

People know the danger but often they have no alternative.

"I often cross the railway crossing every time I go to my friend’s house in Tanah Kusir. Seriously it is scary," said Hening, a South Jakarta resident. “But there is no other road to Tanah Kusir. Like it or not, I have to brave it,” she said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.