RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

. It is known that the Netherlands East Indies Railway Company, who’s new Administration Building in Semarang was put into operation in the beginning of July of 1907, some images of which are hereby presented, has built the first railway in Java. The first or trunk line was built to connect the booming Vorstenlanden of Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta (Yogya) with Semarang, their natural sea port. That is how Semarang became and remains the Netherlands Indies seat of the 's-Gravenhage based company and of which the whole of the Indies owes so much, as it gave the impetus to the improvement of the traffic system in the East Indies. The main Semarang-Vorstenlanden line with the Kedoeng Djattie-William I branch line, now extending 206 kilometers, was, as far as its last section Solo Yogya is concerned, opened for public traffic on 10 June 1872  , and its branch line on 21 May 1873.  This line is located in Central Java. In addition, almost simultaneo...

B 5112 at the Ambarawa depot Prior to 1900 the main passenger trains of the Staatsspoorwegen (SS) , the Netherlands Indies State Railway Company, on its flat plain routes were hauled by 2-4-0 locomotives. However, by the turn of the century it was felt that more powerful and faster locomotives were needed. In 1900 Hanomag delivered the first engines of the 600 class to the SS. The design of this 4-4-0 engine was based on the Prussian State Railways class P4 locomotive . Eventually, 44 engines of these series, built by Hanomag, Hartmann and Werkspoor, were operated by the Staatsspoorwegen Prussian State Railways P4 Locomotive During the Depression ( 1929-1934) many engines of this class were mothballed. In the late 1930s they returned to active duty, but only on branch lines. Following the Japanese occupation class 600 were renumbered B51. Class B51 continued to be operated by the Indonesian Railway Company till the early 1980s. The last surviving engine of this series is B5112 which...

Today, in this age of mass air travel, flying is an everyday experience. As the tag line of Asia’s leading budget airline proclaims: “Now everyone can fly”. Back in the pre-jet days of  the 1950s, however, when flying was not yet as common as today, it still had a sense of adventure and glamour to it. Boarding an airplane was something special and people would put on their best clothes for the trip.  It was in those days, in October 1956, that I, for the first time ever, flew on an airplane. My mother, younger brother and I were travelling from Indonesia to the USA to join my father who had left earlier to study there. Our airplane, a KLM Royal Duch Airlines Lockheed Constellation , took off early in the morning from Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Lockheed Constellation, Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia Our first stopover was at Paya Lebar Airport, Singapore. Here we were told to stay inside the airplane because at that time Singapor...

 Since about a year ago I started cycling instead of swimming to keep fit. I have found that cycling has certain advantages compared to swimming. I can do it everyday (weather allowing, of course) instead of only two or three times a week. I do not have to pay entrance and I can start right from my door. But most importantly, I can pass along a railway track. This not just any track; it is part of the first railway line in Indonesia , the 25 kilometres Semarang-Tanggung line opened in 1867. But before I get to the tracks I first pass through quite and shady kampung streets. My regular encounters during these morning trips is with the humble economy class Bojonegoro feeder. Once in while I meet some slow freight trains waiting at the passing loop at Alastua Station. One day, however, I was surprised to see the crack Argo Bromo Anggrek ‘Go Green’ which was about three hours behind schedule. During weekends and holidays Alastua station has become a popular p...

These pictures were taken at Hualamphong Station , Bangkok, during a brief visit on 16 October 2010. The portrait of King Chulalongkorn (1853 - 1910) the modernizer of Thailand dominates the main hall. In 1891 the King issued a Royal Proclamation for the construction of the first railway line in Thailand between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima. An Altshom AD24C diesel electric locomotive Two General Electric CM22-7i diesel electric locomotives I wished I had the time to ride one of the State Railway of Thailand 's (SRT) trains. I especially would have liked to travel to Kanchanaburi and see the infamous Thai-Burma Death Railway .

On 29 October 2010 a special train was run from Semarang Tawang Station to Tanggung Station. This 25 kilometer trip along Indonesia's first railway line commemorates the 143th anniversary of railways in Indonesia. Departure from Tawang Station, Semarang. at 07:00 AM Arrival at Tanggung Station, 1 hour 30 minutes later The special train was made up of two coaches (converted GW cement trucks) and a YR truck, hauled by a Krupp D301 diesel engine disguised as NIS 01. NIS, of course, stands for Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NISM), the first railway company in Indonesia that had build the Semarang-Tanggung line. For this trip guests were asked to dress in 'period' costumes. This train will later serve as a tourist train running along the scenic Ambarawa-Tuntang line.

Published in The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com) The Jakarta Post Tue, 04/27/2010 4:01 PM Indah Setiawati Long-time users of the Parahyangan train, which has for almost 40 years ploughed the Jakarta to Bandung route, spared time Monday to watch the train embark on its last journey before its discontinuation. One passenger came with his family from as far as Batam to enjoy the spectacle, while others drove all the way from Tangerang, Banten; all with the same intention of becoming “part of the history” as the last passengers on the train, the operation of which was terminated due to financial losses. “I was so shocked to learn that the Parahyangan would not operate anymore,” Sita Hutabarat, one of the passengers, told The Jakarta Post, adding that recently she had begun taking her car to Bandung, West Java, via the Cipularang turn pike. Sita drove all the way from her house in Tangerang, Banten, to Gambir station in Central Jakarta to take the Parahyangan with her friend, ...