Padang - The Padang Class II Railway Engineering Centre has announced that there have been 14 cases of minibusses colliding with trains in West Sumatra until June 2024. Two cases occurred in June, on Tuesday, 18 June 2024, with the location of the incident at EWS 06 KM 18+298 between Tabing Station and Duku Station, and on Tuesday, 25 June 2024, at EWS 20 KM 34+562 between Pasar Usang Station and Lubuk Alung Station.

BTP Padang's on-the-spot investigation after the incident at EWS 06 revealed that the driver of the minibus, who was traveling in the direction he was heading to the motorway, was unaware of the train's arrival and stopped his vehicle in the middle of the track because of two two-wheelers coming from different directions.

The passengers in the minibus shouted at the driver about the train's arrival, and the passengers got out, but the driver panicked and tried to move the vehicle forward, but it was too late, so a temper was unavoidable,' said Padang BTP chief Endang Setiawan in a statement following the incident.

This incident resulted in the driver being seriously injured, the early warning system pole was damaged (bent) and one rail peg was broken.

In the second incident, the Minangkabau Ekspres train and minibus were severely damaged. Our EWS pole was also broken and dragged up to five meters. In addition, three units of barrier equipment and the barrier holder were broken,' he said.

According to the results of the investigation, both cases were caused by the negligence of the driver, who was impatient and did not give priority to the train. Although the law already regulates this, Article 124 of Law No. 23/2007 on Railways states that road users must give way to trains at crossings between railway lines and roads, and Article 114 of Law No. 22/2009 on Road Traffic and Transport states that vehicle drivers must stop and give way to trains at level crossings between railway lines and roads when the signal has sounded and the train door has closed.

Always apply BERTEMAN, that is, stop, look left-right, safe, and then walk, because just by taking care to do this simple thing can reduce the risk of accidents," said The chief of District Office (Balai).

 

Public Relations of Padang Railway Engineering Centre