Samarang NIS: traces of Indonesia's first railway station found
There is no dispute that the first railway line in Indonesia was built between Semarang and Tanggung by the Nederlandsch_Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS). However, the exact location of Semarang’s first station is still subject to controversy. The official view of PTKA (Indonesian Railway Company) is that the first station was located in Kemi(d)jen, and was even called Kemidjen Station. Kemidjen Station in the railway company’s official history book. Other sources, such as Rietsma (1925), Liem (1933), Oegema (1982), van Ballegooien de Jong , (1993) de Bruin (2003), however, make no references of Kemi(d)jen. They all say that the first railway line was between Semarang (Samarang) and Tanggung (Tangoeng). Liem adds that the first NIS station was located near the port, in an area called Tambaksari. The use of the spelling Samarang was common till the 1880s. Thus, it is very likely that the first station in Semarang would also be called Samarang Station. The 1866 map of Semarang s...
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