RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

This is an article written by Yuri Matsarsky, the editor of the regional section of the daily Russian railroad newspaper “Gudok” ( http://www.gudok.ru/ ). It describes the connection between the Hijaz Railways and the railways of Indonesia. (For those who do not know Russian, please use translator.) 18.09.2009 3 ноября 1920 года «Восстание в колониях» По судьбе паровозов можно изучать новейшую историю Взорванные почти столетие назад паровозы и по сей день ржавеют в пустыне Отвоевав свои земли у турок и англичан, арабы приблизили развал великих некогда империй и, сами того не ведая, способствовали развитию железных дорог на другом конце света. Осенью 1920 года «Гудок» сообщал о приближающейся победе арабов и турок над британскими колонизаторами в Месопотамии. Эти сражения были продолжением боёв Первой мировой войны, в ходе которых расклад сил был несколько иным – за свою независимость арабы воевали против турок. А британцы, как враги Османской империи, помогали им в этом. Именно британц...

Members of the IRPS bringing the WH202 locomotive out of its depot. (Photo courtesy of IRPS) Growing up during the 1950s in Surabaya, Lutfhi Tjahyadi, who is 41, said he had a classic Monopoly board game with a wonderful picture of a green-and-yellow model CC200 diesel locomotive on the cover. And as a teenager, during a rail journey from Surabaya to Jakarta, he was shocked to see the exact same train go thundering past. His heart beat faster, he said, as he craned his neck out the window to get a better look. “Emotionally, I feel like I have a tie with the train,” he said. As an adult, Lufthi took a job in Cirebon, West Java, and discovered there were three neglected CC200s in a depot near the city’s train station. Whenever he could, he would stop by the depot and run his hand reverently over the rusty parts and peeling paintwork of the glorious locomotives of the past. America’s General Electric Company had sold the state railway operator 27 of the hulking CC200 locomotives in 1953. ...

There are various aspects to the work carried out by the Indonesian Railway Preservation Society, but one of the most important is preserving state railway system infrastructure, such as train stations, bridges, tunnels and workshops, as well as trains and spare parts. “We tour sites such as former train stations that have been converted into markets, workshops and storage facilities,” said Aditya Dwi Laksana, the chairman of the IRPS. “Then we identify and document things that are considered worthy of saving as heritage assets.” In January, after months of map research and site interviews and retrieving archives from the Netherlands, the IRPS was able to locate Stasiun Samarang NIS, the first train station in Indonesia, which was established by the Dutch in 1867 in Semarang, Central Java. Other assets that fall under the IRPS radar include equipment such as dated ticketing and station telegraph machines, historical archives and documentation, including train station blueprints, railwa...

I was recently given a pack of postcards by Homme Heringa (Bureau Spoorbouwmeester) who was a member of the Identification Mission on the Revitalisation of Indonesia’s Railway Stations, together with Ben de Vries (Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency). These are not ordinary postcards, they are postcards published by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) showing art works in the stations, on board the trains and along the tracks of the Netherlands. These are realisations of the Dutch Railways’ ‘art policy.’ The purpose of this art policy is to: make the mundane world of public transport less mundane and more interesting give visual pleasure and inspiration during travel create a new image of the Dutch Railways integrate art, design and architecture show the societal cultural responsibility of the Dutch Railways These postcards show a few examples of the realisation of this policy. At the moment it is perhaps too much to ask for the Indonesian Railway Company (PTKA) to show any ...

The first Chinese settlement in Java was most likely established in Lasem . Lasem is located on the north coast of Java, about three hours drive east of Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java. Its current population is about 30,000. The Chinese settlers arrived in phases, the first one in the 15th century, then in 1740, 1743, 1842, and finally in 1881. These succeeding years marked important events in the history of Chinese-Indonesians. In 1740 there was an uprising of the Chinese in Batavia against the Dutch East Indies Company . Many Chinese were killed, while those who survived escaped to Lasem. These refugees established themselves north and south of the existing Chinese settlement. In 1743 the Chinese of Lasem revolted against the Company, in retaliation to the Batavia massacre. The Company reacted by forcing all the Chinese who where living in villages around Lasem to settle within the town, on the western bank of the Lasem River, across the earlier Chinese settlement. ...

Construction of the Banjar - Cijulang branch line started in 1911. The first section, about 31 kilometres down to Kalipucang , was opened in December 1916. The second section to Parigi was finished in January 1921, while the short extension to Cijulang was officially opened in June 1921. The railway line was mainly built by the Netherlands Indies colonial government to open up the then isolated East Priangan ( Preanger ) region and to carry the surplus copra produced in that area. It is also believed that the line had a military purpose, and was part of a planned railway route along Java’s southern coast, from Bayah in the west to Banyuwangi in the east. One of the reasons it took such a long time to build this relatively short line was because many bridges and viaducts had to be built and many tunnels had to be dug. Along the 83 kilometres line there are at least four tunnels and three long viaducts. Hundreds of workers died of malaria and other diseases building the line. The ...

The JakartaKota/Batavia Benedenstad station was officially opened on 8 October 1929. This twelve platform station, at that time hailed as the 'the largest and most beautiful station in Netherlands India', was designed by Asselberghs, Ghijsels, and Hes of the Algemeen Ingenieurs-en Architectenbureau (AIA). It replaced an older station of the Bataviasche Oosterspoorweg Maatschappij (BO.S), which is why even today it is still affectionatelly called 'Beos' ( bay-yoss ) by Jakartans.