Bintaro railway accident
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In the railway accident in Bintaro (also: Railway accident of Plastica ) on October 19, 1987 in a suburb of Jakarta on what was then a single-track line, two overstaffed trains collided head- on in the morning rush hour. 153 people died. This was the most serious railway accident for the Indonesian State Railways .
Starting position
Several trains were directly or indirectly involved in the accident:
- KA 225: Merak - Jakarta Kota was pulled by the BB30317 diesel locomotive and was overcrowded with around 700 passengers during the morning rush hour - it was a Monday . Many drove on the roofs of the passenger cars and on the locomotive .
- KA 220: Express train Jakarta - Rangkas Bitung , pulled by the diesel locomotive BB30617, in which about 500 passengers were.
- Another train from Jakarta that was waiting for its exit in Sudimara station on platform 2.
- A freight train parked on track 3 in Sudimara station without a locomotive .
The Tanah Abang (Jakarta) –Rangkasbitung railway line was built on a single track. The route runs at the accident site with curves in that time strongly wooded terrain that the train driver did not grant too wide insight into the line ahead. At that time there were also no other stations between the Kebayoran and Sudimara stations - in contrast to today. Sudimara station had only three tracks , two of which were already occupied.
the accident
The dispatcher at Serpong station gave the slightly delayed KA 225 exit in the direction of Sudimara, without having asked his colleague in Sudimara whether he wanted to take the train. With a delay of about 5 minutes, the KA 225 occupied track 1, the last free track in the Sudimara station, where the timetable planned to cross with the KA 220, which was already approaching the station from the east.
Since a crossing could not be carried out here due to the full occupancy of all tracks in Sudimara, the dispatcher from Sudimara wanted to send the KA 225 on to Kebayoran station. While he was trying to clarify this by telephone, the supervisory officer on the platform signaled the engine driver with a signal lantern "wait". A misunderstanding arose: the train driver himself could not see the officers on the platform because of the many passengers who were on the train and asked one of the passengers which signal was being given. He understood that the supervisor was signaling "Departure" and went out onto the track. During the phone call with the Kebayoran station, the Sudimara dispatcher learned that the KA 220 train had passed through the Kebayoran station without waiting for the dispatcher there to give it the exit. According to the schedule, he was already on the way to Sudimara, where he should have passed at 6:49 a.m. Now both trains were on the line. The employees of the railway in Sudimara tried to stop the train with a red signal flag and a signal lamp, but the engine driver did not see either. In retrospect, it was then disputed whether the signal lamp showed red or green light. So the dispatcher sent an employee behind on a motorcycle , but he could no longer reach and stop the train.
KA 225 was traveling at around 45 km / h and KA 220 at around 25 km / h when the two trains met between the Sudimara and Kebayoran stations at 18.75 kilometers , which is between the present-day districts of Pesanggrahan and Bintaro . The train drivers tried to brake when they saw each other. Since the braking distance would have been at least 400 meters, the trains could no longer stop. The engine driver of the KA 225 managed to jump off. He was badly injured. The locomotive crew of the KA 220 crouched on the floor of the driver's cab and also survived the impact.
consequences
153 people died and hundreds were injured. The dead were travelers on the locomotives and in and on the first two wagons, which were badly damaged. After the clean-up work, the heavy-duty crane of an emergency train derailed on its way back from the accident site.
The drivers of both trains were sentenced to several years' imprisonment and the dispatcher was also given a prison sentence .
As a result of the accident, the locomotives of the Indonesian State Railways were equipped with train radio and the line with modern signaling technology. In addition, the line was completely expanded to two tracks by 2007.
The accident was filmed under the title Tragedi Bintaro .
literature
- Harian Suara Pembaruan , v. October 19, 1987.
Web links
- Edwin Feridian: Tragedi Kereta 19-10-1987 .
- Indonesian Railfans
- Misteri Tragedi Bintaro 1987: NN: Kecelakaan Kereta Api Terdahsyat di Indonesia. Article Kompit Ini Dibuat Sejak Tahun 2012, Untuk Mengenang Tragedi Bintaro 25 Tahun Yang Lalu (1987–2012) .
Remarks
- ↑ The locomotive BB30317 was built in 1975 at Henschel in Kassel; Feridian calls the locomotive BB30316 differently.
- ↑ The locomotive BB30617 was built in 1984 by Henschel in Kassel; Feridian calls the locomotive BB30616 differently.
- ↑ The information here and in the following refer to the state of construction of the railway systems at the time of the accident. They have been heavily redesigned since then. The then heavily forested area is now densely built up.
- ↑ NN: Kecelakaan gives both the number of 153 and that of 156 dead; Feridian gives completely different numbers.
- ^ Tragedi Bintaro feature film .
Coordinates: 6 ° 15 ′ 38.4 " S , 106 ° 45 ′ 40.8" O