Bandung (29/05) -The Socialization and Promotion of Railways Safety was carried out at DAOP (Operational Area)  2 (two) which was a collaboration between the Directorate of Railways Safety, the Directorate General of Railways together with the Railways Engineering Office for the West Java Region, the Transportation Office of West Java Province, Bandung City and Garut Regency as well as DAOP 2 PT KAI (Persero) which will be held on 27 May – 28 May 2021.

On the first day, the activity was centered at the Bangshadow and Cipurut Road Railway Crossings, Garut, for the second day it was located at the Ibrahim Adjie Street Crossing, Parakan Saat Street, and  Intersection

"We chose the JPL 211 Bangshadow crossing, Garut to be the location for the Socialization and Promotion of Railway Safety because JPL 211 received special attention from the Governor, Ridwan Kamil, and our Minister and the Head of Transportation in Garut Regency", said Prayudi, Coordinator of the Accident Examination and Analysis Group of the Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation.

So initially this was indeed an illegal crossing but it was a national road then several years ago this was proposed by Head of Transportation Office of Garut through Mr. Governor then Mr. Governor proposed to Mr. Minister, Mr. Minister immediately ordered his officers including us to build a crossing at 211 and this is one of the efforts of the ministry in the context of implementing PM 94 which was issued in 2018 where later the transportation department may manage this level crossing," said Prayudi.

Prayudi also revealed that officers were previously given training and received certificates issued by the Ministry. The training was conducted in Madiun at the API (Indonesian Railways Academy).

Regarding the railway line which is used as a recreation area by the community, especially during the month of Ramadan, Prayudi has coordinated with the Head of the West Java Region Railways Engineering Office, "We have coordinated with Mrs. Kabalai on how to make the protective infrastructure possible by being protected by fences, of course, ornamental fences because so that the visibility remains free or later a channel will be made so that people are not comfortable here to sit around and then also play here, "said Prayudi. According to him, apart from education, supporting infrastructure also needs to be prepared to protect the railroad.

The Head of the UPT (Technical Implementation Unit) of the Regional I Transportation Office, Saefulloh, expressed his support regarding the implementation of this Safety Socialization and Promotion activity. "With this activity, this is something I hope for as the Head of Technical Implementation Unit Regional I of Transportation Office, who also happens to be a native here and I really support this activity because I educate the public that this train must be safe," said Saefulloh.

Saefulloh expressed his gratitude regarding the existence of a crossing gate that previously did not exist so as to minimize the occurrence of accidents. He also hopes that this activity will continue to be carried out continuously every year and coordinate with the Railways, Provincial and Regency Transportation Offices.

Meanwhile, on the second day, John Robertho, Director of Safety and Security of PT KAI (Persero), and Iwan Eka Putra, Head of Operational Region 2 Bandung and his staff, were also present.

"With this socialization activity, we hope that all road users can be more disciplined, obeying the crossing signs when the door starts ringing until it closes, it must be obeyed," said John.

In addition, at Kiaracondong, we hope to be able to close the crossing below because there is already a flyover above so that the flyover function can run and this crossing is no longer used," added John.

This Safety Socialization and Promotion activity held banners and posters, as well as appeals and attaching safety stickers to vehicle users crossing the crossing and also distributing health protocol tools.

In this activity, the Ministry of Transportation and the Director of Safety and Security of PT. KAI (Persero) and the Head of the Railway Engineering Center for the West Java Region.

This Safety Socialization and Promotion activity is part of the collaborative campaign “Yuk Selamat Bersama” which has been intensively socialized by the Ministry of Transportation as an effort to reduce the number of accidents.

The purpose of the Railway Safety Socialization and Promotion Program itself is to increase the participation of the community and railway stakeholders in realizing maintaining order, security and railway safety, especially at railroad crossings.