Trem Semarang: Jomblang-Boyolali

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Baru-baru ini dikabarkan bahwa Walikota Semarang telah meminta kepada pemerintah Belanda agar dua unit trem kota Amsterdam dihibahkan kepada kota Semarang. Kalau permintaan itu dipenuhi, kemungkinan yang akan diberikan adalah trem tipe 11G buatan BN, Belgia keluaran 1989-1991, yang sejak Januari 2021 tidak dioperasikan lagi di Amsterdam karena sudah digantikan trem tipe 15G buatan CAF, Spanyol. Rute jalur trem Semarang itu direncanakan melingkar sepanjang 12,8 kilometer dari Stasiun Tawang - Jalan Ronggowarsito- Jalan Agus Salim - Pasar Johar - Jalan Pemuda - Lawang Sewu - Jalan Imam Bonjol dan kembali ke Stasiun Tawang. Sejarah trem kota Semarang sebenarnya cukup panjang. Semarang adalah kota kedua di Indonesia (setelah Jakarta/Batavia) yang mempunyai trem kota. Antara 1882-1883 perusahaan Samarang – Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij (SJS) membangun sistem trem perkotaan di Semarang, selain mengembangkan jalur ke Juwana (dan kemudian diperpanjang ke Blora dan Cepu). Jaringan trem Semarang terdiri dari empat jurusan yang semuanya dimulai dari stasiun utamanya di Jurnatan, masing-masing: Stasiun Jurnatan-Bulu, Stasiun Jurnatan-Stasiun Samarang NIS, Stasiun Jurnatan-Pelabuhan Semarang dan Stasiun Jurnatan-Jomblang.
Dalam bukunya “Riwayat Semarang” (1933) Liem Thian Joe menulis bahwa ketika jalur Stasiun Jurnatan-Jomblang dibangun, daerah di sepanjang rel penduduknya masih jarang dan melewati lapangan terbuka serta daerah berhutan (meskipun sekarang menjadi salah satu daerah terpadat di Semarang). Liem juga menulis bahwa di kalangan masyarakat Jawa dan Tionghoa saat itu ada desas-desus bahwa dibutuhkan anak-anak untuk sesaji pembangunan trem. Oleh karena itu, para orang tua melarang anak-anak mereka keluar rumah, terutama setelah gelap, karena takut akan diculik dan dijadikan sesaji.
De Locomotief Samarangsch Handels- en Advertentieblad 16 November 1899
Dalam berita di harian De Locomotief Samarangsch Handels- en Advertentieblad 16 November 1899 diperlihatkan peta rencana pengembangan jaringan kereta api di Jawa Tengah. Yang menarik, di situ terllihat rencana untuk melanjutkan jalur Stasiun Jurnatan-Jomblang sampai ke Boyolali, melalui Ungaran,Tuntang dan Salatiga. Sebagai catatan, saat itu Boyolali sudah terhubung dengan jalan rel ke Surakarta. Tapi rencana itu tidak menjadi kenyataan. Bahkan, layanan trem di Semarang dihentikan seluruhnya pada 1940, meskipun diprotes masyarakat, karena alasan pemerintah kota harus melakukan penghematan.
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It was recently reported that the Mayor of Semarang had asked the Dutch government to donate two Amsterdam tram units to the city of Semarang. If the request is granted, the unit given would most probably be the type 11G tram made by BN, Belgium, produced from 1989-1991, which has ceased to operate in Amsterdam since January 2021 and has been replaced by the 15G type tram made by CAF, Spain. The Semarang tram route is planned to be 12.8 kilometres long from Tawang Station - Ronggowarsito Street - Agus Salim Street - Johar Market - Pemuda Street - Lawang Sewu - Imam Bonjol Street and back to Tawang Station.

Amsterdam tram: 11G (left), 15G (right)
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tramlijnen_5_en_25_op_de_Strawinskylaan,_met_een_11G_en_15G_tram.jpg)

The city tram of the Semarang city tram actually has quite a long history. Semarang is the second city in Indonesia (after Jakarta/Batavia) to have a city tram. Between 1882-1883 the Samarang – Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij (SJS) built an urban tram system in Semarang, in addition to developing a line to Juwana (later extended to Blora and Cepu). The Semarang tram network consists of four routes, all of which start from the main station in Jurnatan: Jurnatan Station-Bulu, Jurnatan Station-Samarang NIS Station, Jurnatan Station-Semarang Port and Jurnatan Station-Jomblang.

In his book “Riwayat Semarang” (1933) Liem Thian Joe wrote that when the Jurnatan Station-Jomblang line was built, the area along the railroad was still sparsely populated and passed through open fields and forest areas (though it is now one of the most densely populated areas in Semarang). Liem also wrote that amongst the Javanese and Chinese community at that time there were rumors that children were needed for offerings for the construction of trams. Therefore, parents forbade their children to leave the house, especially after dark, for fear of being kidnapped and made into offerings.

An article in the daily De Locomotief Samarangsch Handels-en Advertentieblad 16 November  1899, showed a map of the planned development of the railway network in Central Java. Interestingly, there was a plan to continue the Jurnatan Station -Jomblang line to Boyolali, via Ungaran, Tuntang and Salatiga. At that time Boyolali was already connected by rail to Surakarta. But the plan was never realised. In fact, the tram service in Semarang was completely discontinued in 1940, despite public protests, because the city government could not afford to continue subsidizing the service .

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