Indonesia's deadly Bekasi train crash was a preventable tragedy rooted in decades of neglected rail infrastructure. A stalled taxi at an unguarded crossing set off a chain reaction that killed 15 women in a rear commuter carriage, and President Prabowo's pledge to investigate and build flyovers is long overdue. With 1,800 dangerous crossings across Java, the government must stop treating rail safety as an afterthought.
Prabowo's promised 4 trillion rupiah to fix Indonesia's level crossings sounds bold, but it only covers roughly 26 overpasses out of nearly 4,000 nationwide — that's nowhere near enough. Experts are clear that express and commuter trains sharing the same tracks is a structural disaster waiting to happen, and a full audit of the signaling system is essential. Real accountability means funding that matches the scale of the problem.
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