Established Since 1921, Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong Continues to Maintain the Reliability of KAI’s Railways and Bridges
About 500 meters from Kiaracondong Station, there is a KAI facility that has been operating for more than a century to support the safety of train travel. At this location, steel materials are cut, shaped, assembled, inspected, and coated to become bridges and various track maintenance equipment.
The facility is Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong, located at Jalan Kiaracondong Number 92, Bandung. Established in 1921, this workshop handles the production and repair of steel bridges as well as the manufacture of work equipment for railway track needs in Java and Sumatra.
Vice President Corporate Communication KAI, Anne Purba, explained that the work at Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong is directly related to travel safety. Every product produced originates from the need to keep rails and bridges safe for train operations.
Based on production data from 2023–2025, Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong produced 9,899 products and components divided into 26 types. These products are used for inspection, maintenance, repair, and handling special conditions on rails and bridges.
The largest production consists of 2,970 tamping picks, which are components used in ballast tamping equipment beneath and around railway sleepers. The ballast helps maintain the stability of the rails when train sets pass over them. This workshop also produced 587 temporary rail clamps, equipment used to secure damaged rails before permanent repairs are carried out.
To support accurate inspections, 464 track gauge measuring and adjusting tools were also produced, along with 399 rail defect inspection rulers and 290 rail wear measuring tools. These tools help personnel determine track conditions based on accurate measurements. Anne stated that safety requires thorough inspection, so measuring tools and maintenance equipment must be accurate, durable, and suited to the needs of field personnel.
Other products include trolley wheels, rail lifting pulleys, rail shifting tools, rail fastening installation tools, as well as rail transfer tools. A trolley is a small work vehicle used by personnel to transport tools and materials to maintenance locations.
Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong produced 312 emergency bridge supports in various types during 2023–2025. Some types have a maximum load capacity of up to 46 tons, while type 50 can support loads of up to 83 tons. These supports can be used to help maintain structural stability when bridges require special handling. The availability of emergency equipment is important so that safety measures can be implemented according to field conditions.
During the same period, the workshop produced 603 rail fasteners for emergency bridge construction and 132 tetrapod molds. Tetrapods are concrete structures placed around bridge pillars and abutments to reduce the impact of river current erosion. Anne explained that internal production capability helps KAI prepare components according to the required functions and dimensions, so personnel have the right equipment when carrying out safety measures and repairs.
In the 2026 work program, Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong has completed the handling of one steel bridge measuring 40 meters in length with a weight of 137.91 tons. The workshop also completed 16 components for four bridges in the Pekalongan–Sragi area with a total weight of 3.236 tons. In the production of work equipment, 760 tamping picks have been completed. Meanwhile, the production of 75 sets of emergency bridge supports has reached 57.76 percent based on the reporting period in the document.
The work process begins with cutting materials according to size, shaping, drilling, assembling, and welding. After that, the steel surface is cleaned and coated with a protective layer to reduce the risk of corrosion and extend its service life. This workshop is supported by metal cutting machines, drilling machines, metal forming machines, lathes, welding equipment, as well as a dedicated area for cleaning and coating steel surfaces. To move large materials, there are six lifting devices each with a capacity of 10 tons, as well as two lifting vehicles each with a capacity of three tons.
As of June 1, 2026, Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong is supported by 26 workers consisting of 21 KAI employees, two cleaning staff, and three security personnel. The employees hold competency certificates from the National Professional Certification Agency as well as expertise certificates according to their fields. This workshop also implements ISO 9001:2015, an international standard in quality management. Each stage of work includes equipment inspection, use of protective gear, work area arrangement, and risk control, from the receipt of materials to the completion of products ready for use.
In addition to producing bridges and work equipment, Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong develops several prototypes of new equipment. One of them is a rail jack capable of supporting a maximum load of 12 tons to assist in maintenance work and component replacement. Another development is a digital tool to measure wave wear on rail surfaces, considering that rail surface conditions need to be monitored as they can affect travel comfort and the condition of track components.
The workshop is also developing a wear measurement tool for turnouts, a device to check the accuracy of track gauge measuring tools, as well as simple work vehicles to assist personnel in inspecting tracks. A turnout is a part of the rail that directs train sets from one track to another.
These developments are part of a plan to strengthen Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong into a Rail and Bridge Workshop. Its scope of work is directed to support both bridge needs and rail maintenance equipment. Anne concluded by stating that the development of measuring tools and work equipment is aimed at helping personnel detect track conditions earlier so that safety handling can be carried out appropriately.
From steel bridges weighing hundreds of tons to measuring tools used by personnel in the field, every product of Balai Yasa Jembatan Kiaracondong has the same purpose: to maintain the reliability of rails and bridges before train operations pass over them.