Rantau Prapat – Railway Facilities (ASP) crew from the Railway Maintenance Center are honing their competency on the new train route from Rantauprapat Baru Station – Aek Nabara Station, North Sumatra. ASP operates a measuring train on this crossing.

sThis activity is a support for the implementation of socialization on the introduction of the new Rantauprapat Baru - Aek Nabara crossing, as well as implementing the competence of the Railway Facilities Crew (ASP) of the Directorate General of Railways.

Based on Minister of Transportation Regulation Number 115 of 2015 concerning Certification of Skills for Railway Facility Crews, in operating railway facilities, human resources are required who have proficiency certification. However, due to the limited number of human resources who have ASP proficiency certificates at the Medan Class I Railway Engineering Center, the Railway Maintenance Center sent one personnel seconded to operate special railway facilities, with the skill category being Special Railway Facilities Crew.

The Railway Maintenance Center itself has human resources who have certification for Railway Facilities Crew of 10 people consisting of five ASPs for special equipment and five ASPs (manual).

ASP in the operation of railway facilities must be carried out by human resources who have proficiency certification in accordance with Minister of Transportation Regulation Number 4 of 2017 concerning Certification of Skills for Railway Facilities Crew which has been amended in Minister of Transportation Regulation Number 18 of 2023 concerning Amendments to Regulation of the Minister of Transportation Number 4 of 2017 Concerning Railway Facilities Crew Proficiency Certification.

Here are some things you need to know before we discuss the competency requirements that ASPs must have, and what types they are: 1. Railway Facilities Crew are people who are assigned to the train by the railway facilities operator during the train journey; 2. Special Equipment Railway Facilities Crew are people assigned to special equipment railway facilities by the railway infrastructure operator; 3. Manual Railway Facilities Operating System is a railway facilities operating system that is fully controlled by the railway facilities crew with or without auxiliary devices; 4. Automatic Railway Facilities Operating System is a railway facilities operating system that is partially controlled and/or without a facility crew.

After knowing the general terms related to ASP, the discussion refers to competent facility crew. What is competency?

Competency is defined as a person's observable ability, which can be observed, including knowledge, skills and work attitudes in completing a job or task, completing a job or task in accordance with standards, so that if someone is going to be a facility crew member who will operate a manual railway facility, it is mandatory fulfill the following requirements: a. Physically and mentally healthy and not color blind as proven by a certificate from the health service unit; b. Minimum height 160 (one hundred and sixty) centimeters; c. Have a certificate of graduation from at least a high school or equivalent or have a package C diploma; d. Have a certificate of passing ASP education and training in accordance with the operating system of an institution/legal entity that is accredited by the minister; and e. Pass the competency test as an ASP according to the operating system (manual or automatic).

After knowing the general terms related to ASP, the discussion refers to competent facility crew. What is competency?

Competency is defined as a person's observable ability, which can be observed, including knowledge, skills and work attitudes in completing a job or task, completing a job or task in accordance with standards, so that if someone is going to be a facility crew member who will operate a manual railway facility, it is mandatory fulfill the following requirements: a. Physically and mentally healthy and not color blind as proven by a certificate from the health service unit; b. Minimum height 160 (one hundred and sixty) centimeters; c. Have a certificate of graduation from at least a high school or equivalent or have a package C diploma; d. Have a certificate of passing ASP education and training in accordance with the operating system of an institution/legal entity that is accredited by the minister; and e. Pass the competency test as an ASP according to the operating system (manual or automatic).

After fulfilling these requirements, ASP candidates must have a pass mark for first level Railway Facilities Crew education and training.

For prospective special equipment railway facility crew, it is proven by passing the education and training provided by the manufacturer, vendor and/or principal, institution or legal entity that has a training instructor who has obtained a training certificate from the manufacturer to provide education and training for special equipment.

ASP of the Railway Maintenance Center carries out the operation of the State-Owned Facilities (SMN) Measuring Train with facility identity number SU 3 17 02. The operation will be carried out at the end of the second semester of this year, to be precise from 29 May 2024 to 07 June 2024.

In the report on the implementation of operations on the new Rantauprapat Baru - Aek Nabara route above, it starts with an inspection of the Ukur Train facilities by the facility maintenance staff and an inspection of the completeness and readiness of the facilities by PT KAI (Persero). After the inspection, the facilities were delivered, followed by representatives from the PPSP Working Unit, the Medan Class I Railway Engineering Center, and the Railway Maintenance Center to Rantauprapat Baru Station. Delivery of the Measure Train from Pulubrayan Depot to Rantauprapat Baru Station by ASP from PT KAI (Persero) on May 30 2024.

Delivery of measuring train facilities to Rantauprapat Baru Station takes approximately seven hours from Pulubrayan Station at 10.00 WIT. Means reaches Rantauprapat Baru Station at 17.00 WIT with a speed limiter (taspat) during the journey of 70-80 km/hour.

Then the operation of the measuring train from Rantauprapat Baru Station to Aek Nabara Station was carried out by ASP of the Railway Maintenance Center on 30 May 2024, 3 June 2024, and 4 June 2024. The total length of traffic from Rantauprapat Baru Station to Pondok S5 Station is 33 km.

However, operations by ASP are carried out only from Rantauprapat Baru Station - Aek Nabara Station with a traffic length of 18 km which can currently be passed at a limited speed of 40 km/hour. Meanwhile, the Aek Nabara Station - Pondok S5 Station route with a distance of 9 km and the route after Pondok S5 Station with a length of 6 km are not yet ready to be crossed, tested or operated due to the discovery of many missing rail moorings due to vandalism.

During the operation of the Measure Train, inspection and identification of the railway track and buildings, as well as operational facilities along the route, were also carried out in order to evaluate the new route. (yogo)