Normalcy was restored in railway travel in the northern Java railway line, as floodwaters that inundated sections of rail tracks in Semarang, Central Java, subsided, state railways company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) stated.

“According to the latest information, trains can again cross the track lines at PT KAI’s Operational Region 4 Semarang as of 5 a.m. local time,” PT KAI Operational Region 5 Purwokerto’s Public Relations Manager Krisbiyantoro noted here Monday.

With the reopening of the Semarang line, no other rail travel on the northern Java railway line had to detour through Purwokerto in Banyumas District, he stated.

He remarked that some trains continued to detour through Purwokerto in the early hours before the Semarang operational authority reported that the rail tracks have been functional.

To accommodate passengers whose travel was disrupted by the flood in Semarang, Krisbiyantoro stated that his operational authority had decided to transfer railway passengers disembarking at northern Java stations, such as Brebes, Tegal, and Pekalongan, to other transportation modes.

“The overstappen (transfer to other modes) was conducted by transferring railway passengers departing for some cities to the bus transportation mode,” he stated.

By Sunday (January 1), PT KAI Operational Region 5 Purwokerto redirected 186 passengers from four northern Java stations whose journey was disrupted by the flood.

The four trains for which passengers were redirected were the Blitar-Jakarta Pasar Senen-bound KA7033/251s Brantas and KA109s Brantas trains, the Malang-Jakarta Pasar Senen-bound KA281 Matarmaja train, and Malang-Jakarta Pasar Senen-bound KA251a Majapahit train, the official stated.

“The overstappen for the 186 passengers from the four trains was conducted at (Tegal District’s) Prupuk Station, and passengers transported to their destination with buses that we prepared earlier,” Krisbiyantoro remarked.

He added that PT KAI expressed profound apology for any difficulties experienced due to travel disruption caused by the flooding.

Earlier, heavy rains lashed Semarang on Friday (December 30) causing flooding in some areas of the city. The city’s main station, Semarang Tawang, was also affected by the flooding that inundated all railway platforms and tracks. Moreover, other sections of railway tracks in the city were also reportedly inundated by the flood.

Source: Antara News