Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
State railway company Kereta Api (KAI) has urged police to immediately start an investigation into a recent theft attempt involving train rails in Central Java.
The attempt occurred at 10:15 p.m. Monday on the section of line lying between Kaliyoso and Solo Balapan stations.
KAI spokesman Noor Hamidi on Tuesday told reporters bolts holding the rails in place had been removed along a 60-meter stretch of railway line.
The rail was removed but not taken, left alongside the tracks instead.
A train from Malang, East Java, bound for Senen station in Jakarta was forced to stop at the Jebres station in Surakarta after track inspectors reported the incident. The train had five passenger cars.
"We remind train crew, especially drivers, to use extra caution if they find anything suspicious on the tracks. We also urge the police to take this case seriously and severely punish the perpetrators, because this crime could cause an accident," said Hamidi in Bandung on Tuesday.
Hamidi said theft of train rails was increasingly common due to the rails' high quality iron and the high price of scrap iron on the local market. He also cited the limited number of track inspectors as one of the causes for the many thefts that go unsolved.
The attempted theft in Central Java took place just 26 hours after an alleged railway sabotage near Jakarta. Unidentified persons placed a three-meter long rail beam across the railway tracks between Dawuan and Kosambi stations, east of Bekasi.
According to Hamidi, the Cirebon Express train, pulling 10 passenger cars, hit the object.
"Luckily, nothing bad happened," said Hamidi
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