January 18, 2026 | 08:25 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) canceled as many as 82 passenger train trips due to floods, caused by embankment breach and high tide, in Operational Region 4 Semarang, especially in Pekalongan, Central Java.
The President Director of KAI, Bobby Rasyidin, said extreme weather in the past few days has been the main trigger for the floods that inundated the railway lines, worsened by the embankment breach and high tide conditions.
"The extreme weather these past 2-3 days caused the cancellations and delays in our train trips. So, 82 passenger trains and 16 freight trains were cancelled, while around 76 train trips were delayed," said Bobby during a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday, January 18, 2026, as quoted from Antara.
Bobby explained that the initial disruption occurred at kilometer 88+4/8, between Kaliwungu Station and Kalibodri Station. On January 17, KAI carried out recovery operations by lifting the rails and spreading around 105 cubic meters of ballast to restore the passage.
However, later on the same day, the conditions worsened after two rivers that adjoined the railway track at kilometer 88+900 to 89+100, in the section between Pekalongan Station and Sragi Station, overflowed. "That caused the track to be flooded," said Bobby.
The floods, he said, were triggered by simultaneous embankment breaches and high tides, causing the water upstream to fail to recede quickly and instead inundate the railway track. This incident has never been seen before in the area.
According to Bobby, the water upstream usually flows swiftly towards the sea after high rainfall, especially since the river flow has been well facilitated.
"But this time, it was caused by simultaneous incidents of embankment breach and high tides," he explained.
The affected railway tracks are passable now, despite speed restrictions remaining in place for safety reasons.
Bobby said his side is working closely with relevant ministries, institutions, and related bodies to undertake embankment repair at the breached section that caused the flooding earlier.
In addition, he also revealed that he has coordinated with stakeholders from relevant ministries to plan for long-term permanent repairs.
Follow-up actions will kick off on Monday, January 19, to carry out mitigation and permanent repair, especially in special surveillance areas in Operational Region 4 Semarang.
KAI has implemented three mitigation steps, starting from accelerating track repair, providing recovery services to passengers, to ticket refunds.
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