Only At Pondok Jati Train Doors, Trains Stop Waiting For Cars And Motorcycles Pass

View At Pondok Jati Matraman Station Train Gate, East Jakarta/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

JAKARTA - Sunawar (50), even though he is old, his enthusiasm in making a living for his family deserves thumbs up. The man, who has been trying his luck on the railway death line (KA), looks diligent in helping the community, even though he does not get paid from PT KAI.

Although he had to earn fortunes between the deadly crossings of the Pondok Jati Station by becoming a traffic regulatory volunteer, his good determination was to help passing motorists so that accidents did not occur, he had to be appreciated.

In fact, if there is a buildup of vehicles in the railroad crossing whose doors have been closed, the man with the 1 child will not hesitate to run from the crossing to the railway line which is about to come as far as 500 meters carrying a red flag.

"Take a red flag and run there (a distance of 500 meters from the crossing towards the train coming). Stop it, it must be about 500 meters long, we run. The red flag is to stop the train, that's called the 35 motto," Sunawar told VOI, Monday, August 14.

The red flag was flown before entering the crossing so that the speed of the train that was about to pass became slow until it stopped before entering the crossing area of Pondok Jati Station.

"The raising of the red flag is only if suddenly (vehicles) are already crowded, we run with red flags (suived) to stop the train. The flag is flown if the vehicle is congested, it will not be resolved because it locks (vehicles crossing the train track do not decompose). We must fly it so that the train is slow and stops," he explained.

Sunawar said that raising the flag should have been the task of the railroad track (PJL) guard at the railroad crossing. However, if the PJL officer is short of people, it is forced by the volunteers to do so.

"Reslaws may fly the red flag but the main thing is PJL. If we just have to, if the PJL is one person (on guard), we run with the flag. If the PJL is two, then we are in place (regulating vehicle traffic)," he said.

In the daily implementation in the field, the raising of the red flag does not necessarily occur every day. The raising of the red flag is only at a certain time when crossing access is congested and vehicles are completely jammed.

"The red flag is uncertain. It will be flown suddenly, if for example it is densely locked and there is a double train (2 passing trains) then we run with red flags and are flown on the edge of the track," he said.

Furthermore, Sunawar explained, for hours prone to congestion at the Pondok Jari train crossing, namely in the morning from 05.30 WIB to 08.00 WIB. Because at these hours it is a time that is prone for children to go to school. So that traffic flows are often congested and congested.

"In the afternoon, sometimes from 17.00 WIB to 21.00 WIB at night, even if the train is crowded. If it's crowded at night, the train is also jammed from 21.00 WIB to 22.00 WIB," he said.