Accident, theft put train trips at risk

Suherdjoko and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Semarang, Medan

Central Java Police have recorded more than 100 train accidents in the province from January to October this year, as well as some 30 cases of theft, with train rails and the bolts that hold them in place among the items stolen.

Meanwhile, train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia in North Sumatra has declared an alert because railway theft -- suspected to be the work of organized groups -- has been rampant over the past three years.

Director of Central Java Police traffic division, Sr. Comr. Gatta Chaeruddin, said the latest train accident occurred when one of the cars on a cargo train went off the track in Batang, some 100 km west of Semarang, the provincial capital, Wednesday.

The theft cases, he said, were concentrated along the northern route, between Tegal and Bojonegoro.

"The worst accident was when a Gumarang passenger train derailed in Grobogan after the tracks were cut by saboteurs. The other cases were pure accidents," he said in Semarang on Friday.

Director of Central Java crime division, Comr. Mashjudi, said the police had apprehended 20 people for stealing railway material.

He said preliminary investigations indicate the crimes are driven by poverty.

Suspects are selling the stolen goods at prices of Rp 2,300 to Rp 3,000 per kilogram.

Mashjudi said the thieves were conducting operations in eight towns, but the majority of them worked alone, not in a network.

"They did not belong to a syndicate and did not know each other."

He said eight of the suspects were arrested in Karanganyar, Surakarta, Blora, Tegal, Grobogan, Semarang, Brebes and Banyumas. Two of them -- suspected of stealing materiel in Gondangrejo and Karanganyar -- were teenagers living near the railway.

In Blora, police found railroad ties being stolen by farm workers to fashion ax handles.

Train company spokesman Warsono said the company had taken action to prevent similar thefts in the future.

"Now we'll be checking the tracks twice instead of once a day. Obviously, this type of theft poses a serious threat to the safety of train passengers," Warsono said.

He said on the Semarang-Jakarta route, certain checks could be done electronically; unexpected circumstances automatically set off alarms.

Other routes, such as the one running east of Semarang through Bojonegoro and Surabaya, must be checked manually, making it difficult for the authorities to timely discover and remedy obstructions.

In North Sumatra, the train company has, of necessity, requested assistance from the police, regency leaders and mayors to secure theft-prone stretches of track, company spokesman Suhendro Budi Santoso said.

There are three train routes in the province: the 400-km Medan-Rantau route which is prone to theft, the 125-km Medan-Pematang Siantar route and a 21-km stretch between Medan and Binjai.

The railway is not blaming poverty. "Those involved in stealing train material in this area are organized and we need help, including from the police, to deal with this," he told The Jakarta Post.

From January to September this year, three train accidents have taken place in the province. One of them was allegedly due to sabotage of the tracks.