A horrific train crash that killed 16 passengers on the outskirts of Jakarta has prompted Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto to pledge 4 trillion rupiah (US$230 million) to overhaul level crossings across Java after officials identified one such intersection as a key point in the chain collision.
The pledge targets one of the key weaknesses in Indonesia’s rail network: crossings that are unguarded, poorly maintained or haphazardly created by local communities.
Transport analysts said the crash on Monday also highlighted other safety gaps, including weak enforcement, ageing infrastructure and fragmented responsibility among the agencies tasked with keeping trains, roads and passengers safe.
Advertisement
Prabowo said an overpass would be built in the satellite city of Bekasi, near where the crash took place, so that passengers and traffic could cross safely.
“We have found that many railway crossings are unguarded. The Bekasi administration has proposed building an overpass … and I have approved it so that it can be built immediately with presidential help,” Prabowo said while visiting some of the injured victims in a hospital on Tuesday.
Advertisement
“I have given an instruction that we immediately improve all level crossings, whether by adding guard posts or constructing overpasses,” he added.
A level crossing is an intersection where railway tracks cross roads or pedestrian paths at the same ground level.