Financial constraints blamed for poor Indonesian railway

Indonesia's state-run railway firm PT Kereta Api runs the business in a very tight budget, hampering the efforts to repair and rebuild aging railroads, an official said Monday.

The company needs at least 2.1 trillion rupiah (231.1 million US dollars) a year for railroad maintenance and construction but the government allocates budget of 82.6 million dollars a year, said Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa.

Poor infrastructure and damaged railroads put railway industry in "big danger" in the next few years unless the company is given enough fund for rebuilding.

"We still use some parts of the railroads inherited from the Dutch occupation era," he told reporters here.

At least 70 people were injured when an economy train derailed in the West Java town of Garut Saturday. Three railcars went off the damaged railway in the accident.

Source: Xinhua