JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation has closed 170 level rail crossing points without gates in West Sumatra. Because there are many accidents.
"The train accident rate in West Sumatra is quite high due to the large number of illegal crossings. Therefore, to improve railway safety, we will close the 170 illegal crossing points in 2022," said the Head of Sub-Directorate for Prevention and Law Enforcement, Directorate General of Railway Safety at the Ministry of Transportation, Jhon Ferry in Padang, West Sumatra, Thursday 19 May.
The closure of illegal crossings was not carried out arbitrarily. The socialization has been carried out since January 2022 by involving traditional leaders and the community can accept it well because the goal is for safety.
"We also provide solutions for the community. For example, there are five illegal crossing points that are closed and will be given a frontage road or road access which will later be equipped with facilities such as doorstops, guards and an early warning system by the Directorate General of Railways through the Railway Engineering Center," he explained. .
Jhon said that currently in West Sumatra there are 370 level crossings. Some have been guarded, but there are still many points where there are no guardrails or gates, so that they can endanger the public and train travel.
"We will gradually continue to improve safety on this railway line. Ideally, if the crossing is managed and used by the community, then the facilities must be equipped," he said.
According to him, to improve the railway line and improve safety, the Ministry of Transportation has budgeted IDR 179 billion.
Work has already started with pegging in several places. However, it will officially launch on May 21, 2022.
The closure of the illegal crossing is part of the National Movement for Railway Safety and West Sumatra has become a model for the movement this year.
West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi fully supports the national movement because currently the frequency of train travel in West Sumatra is getting higher, while there are still quite a lot of illegal crossings.
"We hope that with this effort to improve railway safety, the accident rate involving trains in West Sumatra can be reduced. If possible, there will be zero accidents," he said.
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