RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

By the end of the 18 th century, the once mighty Mataram Mataram Empire that used to rule nearly the whole of Java has been reduced to four small splinter principalities in the interior of Central Java: Surakarta , Yogyakarta , Mangkunagaran and Pakualaman . This area, however, was one of the most fertile areas in Netherlands India, and many plantations were established in the area, producing sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, indigo and other products that were mainly for export. Therefore, when it was decided to build a railway in Netherlands India, the first concession given was for a line connecting the vorstenlanden (principalities, lit: 'princely states') and the port of Semarang on the north coast. Four Javanese rulers under one roof, from left to right: Mangkunagara VII, Ratu Emas (consort of Pakubuwana X), Hamengkubuwana VIII of Yogyakarta , Pakubuwana X of Surakarta , the Governor of Surakarta , a sister of Hamengkubuwana VIII, Sekar Kedaton (daughter of Pak...

The Jakarta Post, August 21, 2000 SEMARANG (JP): It certainly was not as luxurious as the Venice Simplon Orient Express, nor could it match even a fraction of the speed of the TGV or the Shinkansen . Even by Indonesian standards it was not an impressive train. It was just a slow, third-class train with an antiquated passenger coach that had seen better days and a couple of modified freight cars fitted with benches to accommodate passengers. A 1957 BB 200 class General Motors diesel locomotive pulled the whole affair. It was no wonder then that when the daily Pekalongan to Surakarta Pandanaran passenger train stopped running a couple of months ago, nobody really seemed to notice. Yet despite its obscurity, the Pandanaran claims a certain distinction. The Pandanaran was the last passenger train to travel along Indonesia's historically most important railway line. The Semarang to Surakarta and Yogyakarta (the vorstenlanden , or land of the princes) line was the first ever to ...