Padang-The high number of accidents at railway level crossings in West Sumatra (West Sumatera) is currently a serious concern of the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA), Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) RI.

Therefore, one of the steps to reduce the number of accidents, through the Railway Engineering Center (BTP) Class II Padang in collaboration with PT KAI (Persero) Divre II West Sumatra conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) entitled Security and Safety at Level Crossings: 'Befriending a New Culture for Safety at Level Crossings' which aims to socialize the importance of community participation to realize safety at level crossings.

Director General of Railways M. Risal Wasal who was present at the time said in his remarks that the occurrence of accidents at level crossings is caused by a culture or habit of violating traffic rules. 

"For this reason, in this activity, we will discuss with various relevant stakeholders to find how to effectively minimize the number of accidents that occur at railroad level crossings," he said, Friday (13/10).

In addition, according to him, the culture of Berteman  which is berhenti (stop), tengok kiri (checking your left), kanan (checking your right), aman (safe) and jalan (go),  is also very necessary to always be echoed to the entire community. "Awareness and patience are needed here, considering that personal safety and human life are more valuable than anything else," he added.

 In the activity held at the Pusako Bundo Hall Building, Padang Station, Director of Railway Safety Erni Basri explained that another cause of accidents at crossings is because many people open illegal crossings.

"From DJKA, the Ministry of Transportation will carry out risk control, of course in accordance with our regulations, which will close the illegal crossing because this violates the law and endangers us all," he said.

For information, BTP Padang until July 2023 noted that there were 298 level crossings in West Sumatra. As many as 59% of them, namely 176 crossings, are unregistered crossings. Until now, BTP Padang has also succeeded in closing 261 illegal crossings.

 "Most importantly, we will wait for proposals from each local government (pemda) to improve safety at crossings, whether they need flyovers, need door bars or others, so that we can evaluate and issue recommendations for safety improvements. This is what we need now, namely synergy between stakeholders," he explained.

PT KAI (Persero) Director of Safety and Security Sandry Pasambuna also emphasized that 96% of accidents involving trains in West Sumatra occur at level crossings.

"From 2018 to 2023 there have been 114 accidents involving trains in West Sumatra. For this reason, there must be concrete efforts to improve this safety," he said.

Furthermore, according to Government Regulations, the authority in efforts to improve safety at level crossings is divided according to road status. With this division of authority, it is hoped that the government according to its level will participate in providing a budget to improve safety at level crossings.

On the same occasion, Head of the West Sumatra Transportation Agency (Kadishub) Dedy Diantolany, who also became one of the speakers, fully supported the closure of these illegal crossings.

"FGDs by presenting various agencies from the central government, local governments, operators, cultural experts, the community to students like this will provide an understanding for all of us that safety at crossings is a shared responsibility, not the responsibility of just one party because the victims here are the community and the community is all of us," he said.

 Minangkabau cultural expert Musra Dahrizal (Mak Katik), who was one of the speakers at that time, also revealed how to cultivate understanding from within each community. 

"The culture in each region is different. In Ranah Minang, take an approach with the existing culture, for example, safety messages are included in the arts in West Sumatra such as Randai and others so that the message can easily reach our community," he said.

This opportunity was also used by BTP Padang to create a safety community, namely the Community of Love Friends (Ciman) West Sumatra Region which was chaired by the Chairperson of the West Sumatra Railway Society (Maska) Yossyafra.

This community will consist of all elements of society who have concern for public safety at level crossings and voluntarily move to carry out safety socialization activities.

Head of BTP Padang Supandi as the initiator of this idea stated that in the future, this community will be synchronized with various activities. "I hope this community can make a positive contribution in improving public discipline at level crossings with socialization and education programs that are planned and carried out regularly and continuously," he concluded.

This FGD activity was opened by PT KAI (Persero) President Commissioner KH Said Agil Siraj and presented the Head of BTP Padang Supandi, Kadivre II West Sumatra PT KAI Sofan Hidayah, and Assistant 2 Governor of West Sumatra.

Also present were student representatives from UNP and Unand, as well as elementary, junior high and high school students from Padang City, Pariaman City and Padang Pariaman Regency whose schools are located around the railway line.