New Facts of the East Bekasi Train Accident, the Conductor Has Braked Since 1.3 Km

JAKARTA - The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) revealed that the Argo Bromo Anggrek train driver had made a slow braking of about 1.3 kilometers before the collision incident with the KRL at Bekasi Timur Station, West Java on April 27, 2026.

Met after attending a working meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta, Thursday, May 21, KNKT Chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said the braking was carried out by the long-distance train driver after receiving information about a train collision in front.

"I just said that from a distance of 1,300 meters after receiving the news that there was a temper in front of him, the driver had already braked," said Soerjanto, quoted by Antara.

According to KNKT, information regarding the collision on the front line was conveyed by the operations control center to the driver through voice communication so that the actual conditions on the ground could not be known directly.

Because they only received information through voice communication, the operation control officers did not know the details of the situation at the scene and asked the driver to reduce speed as a safety precaution.

In addition to reducing speed, the driver is also asked to increase the use of the 35 slogan or honk the horn as a warning to increase vigilance against potential dangers on the train track.

"It's just because the situation is not really known at Pusdal because the communication is only through voice, through voice," he said.

"So he doesn't know what the field conditions are like, he just tells me that there is a temper in front, a little brake. Then he did a lot of 35 semboyan," added Soerjanto.

KNKT stated that the pilot had responded to the direction from the operations control center in Manggarai by taking action according to the information received before the accident occurred.

"Well, that's all that was conveyed, so the driver has responded to what was conveyed by Pusdal from the operation controller in Manggarai," he said.

However, KNKT emphasized that it was still too early to conclude the main cause of the accident because a number of technical and operational aspects were still in the process of further research.

The investigation team is currently still collecting, verifying, and processing various supporting data that is necessary to obtain a comprehensive picture of the series of events before the accident occurred.

KNKT explained that the results of the investigation would be concluded after all data and field findings were comprehensively analyzed so that the cause of the accident could be determined objectively and accurately.

To complete the investigation process, the KNKT estimates that it will take about two to three months if all stages of data collection and inspection go according to plan.

After all the investigation processes are completed, the KNKT hopes to deliver the final conclusion and safety recommendations to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents in the future.

"We hope that everything will go smoothly between two to three months, hopefully we can draw conclusions (the cause of the accident)," he said.

At the same place, Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Dudy Purwagandhi stated that his party was still waiting for the results of the KNKT investigation regarding the cause of the train accident in East Bekasi, West Java, on April 27, 2026.

The incident resulted in 124 victims, including 16 deaths, five victims who are still being treated and 103 victims who have returned to their respective homes.