On Wednesday (9/6) to Friday (11/6), the East Java Regional Railways Engineering Office together with PT KAI Operational Area (Daop) 9 Jember conducted an inspection along the operation area of ??Daop 9 Jember, namely the railway line between Surabaya - Banyuwangi across Bangil - Ketapang railways. This inspection is an activity of checking the railway infrastructure using lorry which aims in addition to knowing the condition of the rail crossing in the Daop 9 area, also to find out the problems and map the vulnerable conditions along the route.

This inspection was attended directly by the Head of the East Java Regional Railway Engineering Office, Mohamad Zulkarnain, together with VP Daop 9 Broer Rizal and the accompanying managers. This railway infrastructure inspection activity started from Bangil Station which is the boundary between Daop 8 Surabaya and Daop 9 Jember, and then the team moved to priority locations for improvement, and ended at Ketapang Station Banyuwangi.

Several stations that were inspected include Pasuruan Station, Rejoso Station, and Randuagung Lumajang Station. At this location, apart from looking at the condition of the existing railroad tracks, the condition of the draft and signaling and telecommunications equipment is also seen. In this inspection activity, they also inspected several plot crossing points and wisdom buildings in the form of the BH374 Bridge in Bayeman and the Mrawan Tunnel.

In the Mrawan Tunnel, East Java BTP and PT KAI Daop 9 Jember inspected all sections of the 695-meter-long tunnel and was built since 1901. Previously, the Mrawan Tunnel had also been monitored by the Directorate of Railways Infrastructure and continued to be maintained by both the Directorate of Railway Infrastructure and PT KAI Daop 9 Jember.

Head of East Java BTP Mohamad Zulkarnain explained that this inspection was very necessary because traffic in Daop 9 Jember deserves revitalization, be it on railroads, money orders, and communication tools. He also added that the most likely target in the near future is that this revitalization can increase the speed of trains passing through Daop 9 Jember, which was initially only 60-70 km/hour to above 90 km/hour. "For communication tools, we will try to replace them with communication using Fiber Optic (FO) because the equipment with the sound is not very clear," he added.

In the revitalization process, East Java BTP will program the replacement of rails and drafts so that the train speed can increase. Then, East Java BTP will also deploy a team to calculate, formulate, and improve traffic conditions in vulnerable areas that have been visited. "From what we see the existing conditions along the Daop 9 line, what needs to be a priority is the replacement of the rail with a newer and larger rail (R54) so ??that the train will no longer experience speed restrictions. Later there will be the formation of a team from East Java BTP who will go directly to the field and coordinate with Daop 9, so that later they can together help achieve our targets, "said Zulkarnain.

The KAI Daop 9 Jember appreciates the results obtained from the inspection in its area. "We hope that this revitalization process can be carried out immediately so that our region is not inferior to the northern and southern routes of Java Island, whose train speed can reach 100 km/hour. Therefore, we are very happy that we are here together to see the current condition of the easternmost rail network on the island of Java," concluded Broer Rizal. (PR TEAM BTP JATIM)