RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

THE AMBARAWA-BEDONO RAILWAY, CENTRAL JAVA (Excerpt from: Potential railway world heritage sites in Asia and the Pacific , Robert Lee, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur ) Although an archipelago, Indonesia has an extensive railway system on two of its islands, Java and Sumatra. Until the 1980s there was also a small system on the island of Madura, just off the coast of Java near Surabaya. At their peak, there were 6,458 kilometres of railway in the Netherlands Indies. Both Java and Sumatra have mountainous topography difficult for railway construction. In Java, these mountains are mostly volcanos, the saddles between which have needed to be climbed for railways to connect the flatter and generally more productive parts of the island. Railway services in Java have always been intensive, and remain so, which is scarcely surprising given its current population of more than 130 million. Railways were introduced early into Java, the first line - a 26 kilometre section between Kemije...

Incredible Indian Railways Indonesian passenger trains only have three classes: economy, business and executives, but in India they have no fewer than eight classes. The most inexpensive class is the Unreserved 2nd Class, the most expensive Air-Conditioned 1st Class (AC1). The Unreserved 2nd Class have simple wooden (or sometimes plastic covered) benches and barred windows to prevent people from entering through them. AC1 coaches have air conditioned compartments, dark tinted windows and carpeted floors. Each compartment contains 2 or 4 beds which during the day are converted into seats. AC1 tickets are seven times costlier than those of Unreserved 2nd Class. Other classes are AC2, AC3, AC Executive Chair Class, AC Chair Class, and 1st Class Sleeper. 1st Class which is similar to AC1 but without the AC is being phased out and therefore not very common anymore. AC3 uppermost tier In Indonesia, we have only one rail gauge , 1067 mm. India has four: 5'6 "(1676 mm), 1000 mm, 2...