The wistful ride that started in Semarang<\/p>\n
By Tjahjono Rahardjo<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): It certainly was not as luxurious as the Venice
\nSimplon Orient Express, nor could it match even a fraction of the
\nspeed of the TGV or the Shinkansen. Even by Indonesian standards
\nit was not an impressive train. It was just a slow, third-class
\ntrain with an antiquated passenger coach that had seen better
\ndays and a couple of modified freight cars fitted with benches to
\naccommodate passengers.<\/p>\n
A 1957 BB 200 class General Motors diesel locomotive pulled
\nthe whole affair. It was no wonder then that when the daily
\nPekalongan to Surakarta Pandanaran passenger train stopped
\nrunning a couple of months ago, nobody really seemed to notice.<\/p>\n
Yet despite its obscurity, the Pandanaran claims a certain
\ndistinction. The Pandanaran was the last passenger train to
\ntravel along Indonesia's historically most important railway
\nline. The Semarang to Surakarta and Yogyakarta (the
\nvorstenlanden, or land of the princes) line was the first ever to
\nbe built in the then Netherlands Indies.<\/p>\n
On June 17, 1864, then governor general Baron Sloet van de
\nBeele officiated a ground-breaking ceremony to start the
\nconstruction of tracks running 25 km from Semarang to Tanggung.
\nShortly after its completion on Aug. 10, 1867, King Chulalongkorn
\nof Siam, who was planning to start a railway system in his own
\ncountry, visited Semarang to have a look at the short line.<\/p>\n
Having faced various technical and financial problems, the
\nwhole 205 km line was completed in 1873. This included a line for
\nmilitary purposes, the Kedungjati-Tuntang-Ambarawa line, which at
\nthe time was called Willem I. This line was later extended to
\nYogyakarta through Magelang, passing the Merbabu and Merapi
\nvolcanoes and the Borobudur temple.<\/p>\n
A section of this line, between Jambu, Bedono and Gemawang, is
\na rack line, the only one in Java. Part of this line, between
\nAmbarawa and Bedono (with plans to extend it to Tuntang), is used
\noccasionally by the vintage Mountain Express to carry tourists.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ambarawa station is now a popular locomotive
\nmuseum. This railway system, built by a private company, the
\nNederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS), was to improve
\ncommunications between the port of Semarang and the agricultural
\nheartland of Central Java. That is why the NIS station was
\noriginally located at Tambaksari, near the harbor, while the
\n\"new\" Tawang Station only started to be used in 1914. It is
\nrather ironic that this historical line was unprofitable, since
\nits main raison d'etre was originally for its economic viability.<\/p>\n
The rich and famous<\/p>\n
But the NIS trains did not transport agricultural products
\nonly. The rich and famous of the day also traveled on these
\ntrains. Pakubuwana X of Surakarta (r.1893-1939) for instance, who
\nruled in sumptuous (albeit impotent) splendor, was a frequent
\ntraveler along the NIS line. When he was to be married to Ratu
\nMas (the Golden Princess), daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII
\nof Yogyakarta, he rode to Yogyakarta on his private coach
\ndecorated with the three colors of the Dutch flag. And when he
\ndied in 1939 his last journey to the royal mausoleum at Imogiri
\nwas made on a glazed rail-hearse.<\/p>\n
The Dutch had tried to dissuade Pakubuwana X from making
\nofficial tours beyond his tiny realm, as they were afraid that
\nthese visits might stir up commoners who still thought of him as
\nthe \"King of Java\". But the wily ruler simply told them that his
\nexcursions were \"incognito\", although this did not prevent him
\nfrom having an entourage of up to 100 retainers, much to the
\ndismay of the Dutch. Pakubuwana X's private railway carriage, for
\nwhich incense is burned and flowers are strewn, is now kept at
\nthe Surakarta keraton.<\/p>\n
Besides the NIS line, which was a real railway, Semarang also
\nsaw the construction of the first steam tramway, a light railway
\nunsuitable for heavy and fast traffic, in the East Indies.<\/p>\n
Another private company, the Samarang-Joana Stoomtram
\nMatschappij (SJS), built this tramway to connect Semarang with
\nthe teakwood forests and oil fields at Cepu.<\/p>\n
The SJS terminus in Semarang was the Station Centraal in
\nJurnatan. Other companies soon followed suit and new tramway
\nlines sprung up in Java and Madura, in Sumatra (Aceh, North
\nSumatra, West Sumatra and South Sumatra) and even in South
\nSulawesi, which unfortunately proved to be unprofitable and was
\nclosed after a few years.<\/p>\n
Among these new tramway lines was the Semarang-Cheribon
\nStoomtram Matschappij (SCS), connecting Semarang with Cirebon.
\nThis was often called the \"sugar line\" as it served the numerous
\nsugar factories along the north coast of Central Java. The end of
\nthe line in Semarang was the Poncol Station. Meanwhile, a city
\ntramway system began its service in 1883, connecting Semarang's
\nBulu and Jomblang districts via Station Centraal.<\/p>\n
Initially, the three privately operated railway lines were
\ncompletely independent from each other. The three stations were
\nonly connected after the NIS moved its station to Tawang. Later,
\nthe SCS line was upgraded and became part of the Semarang-Batavia
\n(Jakarta) main line in cooperation with the state railway
\ncompany, the Staatsspoorwegen (SS). The SCS line is the only
\nsurviving (former) tramway in Java today. Other tramways have
\nbeen closed down because they were unable to compete with other,
\nnewer modes of transportation.<\/p>\n
The railways had an influence on Semarang's media. A Dutch-
\nlanguage newspaper published in Semarang was the Semarangsch
\nHandel en Advertentieblad. As its name indicates, its content was
\nmainly advertisements. Later, however, when it became a full-
\nfledged daily newspaper, it was renamed De Locomotief. This name
\nwas deliberately chosen because it represented progress and
\ninnovation. Indeed, De Locomotief developed into one of the most
\nliberal and influential newspapers in the Netherlands Indies.<\/p>\n
Heritage sites<\/p>\n
As the birthplace of the Indonesian railway system, Semarang
\nhas many railway-related heritage sites. Besides the four
\nstations mentioned earlier: Tambaksari, Tawang, Jurnatan
\n(Centraal) and Poncol, there are various railway offices. The
\nmost important one is, of course, the former head office of the
\nNIS, which the people of Semarang have lovingly given the
\nnickname of the \"Thousand Doors Building\".<\/p>\n
Then there is the zustermaatschappijen (sister companies)
\nbuilding, the joint offices of the SJS-SCS-Serajoedal Stoomtram
\nMaatschappij. The latter is the operator of the 126 km line from
\nMaos to Wonosobo that passes through the fertile Serayu River
\nvalley.<\/p>\n
The sister company building was designed by Thomas Karsten, a
\nDutch architect and town planner who played an important role in
\nthe development of Semarang. Among his many designs are the Johar
\nMarket, the New Candi settlement and the popular housing complex
\nat Mlaten. All of these projects reflect Karsten's deep
\nappreciation of Indonesian culture as well as his socialist and
\nanticolonialist leanings.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, many of these witnesses of Semarang's past
\nimportance as a port city and a center of trade and commerce,
\nsuch as the Tambaksari and the Jurnatan stations, have
\ndisappeared.<\/p>\n
In the 1970s Jurnatan station was turned into a bus station,
\nwhich, from an architectural point of view, was much more
\nattractive than the present nondescript Terboyo bus station
\nlocated at the eastern edge of the city. Moreover, it was located
\nnear the city center, just like intercity and international bus
\nterminals in most cities in the world.<\/p>\n
Only in Indonesia, it seems, are bus terminals constantly
\nbeing pushed out into the periphery. After serving only a couple
\nof years as Semarang's main bus terminal, this airy glass and
\ncast-iron structure that looks a bit like a smaller version of
\nthe Gare d'Orsay (now the Musee d'Orsay, which houses an
\nimpressive collection of French impressionist paintings) was
\ndismantled. Now in its place is, as you might have guessed, a
\nbanal glass office and shopping complex.<\/p>\n
The NIS headquarters, one of Semarang's most important
\nlandmarks, still exists, but in a very bad state. Besides being
\nclosely connected to the history of Indonesia's railways, it was
\nan important scene in Semarang's fierce five-day battle from Oct.
\n14 to Oct. 19, 1945. This historical and beautiful building is
\nnow deserted, its plight uncertain.<\/p>\n
Previously, there were plans to turn it into a luxury hotel
\nwhile maintaining its original appearance, but with the economic
\ncrisis (and the fact that the money for this project was supposed
\nto come from people close to the Soeharto family), this plan was
\nabandoned.<\/p>\n
The Tawang Station is somewhat more fortunate. The station is
\nstill in use and the building is well-maintained. However, it
\nfaces serious storms and high-tide flooding. There have been
\nproposals to move its activities to Poncol, but luckily this has
\nbeen canceled, at least for the time being.<\/p>\n
The former SCS station at Poncol is also still in use, though
\nits facade has been slightly altered with the addition of an
\ninsensitive canopy that caused some public furor. This station
\nbuilding was designed by Henri Maclaine-Pont, who is better known
\nfor his design of the Technische Hogeschool (now the ITB\/Bandung
\nTechnological Institute) in Bandung, the church at Pohsarang,
\nKediri and the former SCS head office in Tegal. The luckiest
\nrailway edifice is the former zustermaatschappijen office. PT
\nKereta Api Indonesia, the Indonesian railway company, now
\noccupies it. It is well-maintained and in perfect condition, with
\nno significant changes made to spoil its beauty.<\/p>\n
These railway-related legacies are very valuable assets for
\nSemarang. These structures could easily give Semarang the
\nidentity that it is now lacking and be a factor to attract
\nvisitors to the city.<\/p>\n
In many developing countries there are people and groups who
\nshare an interest in railway heritage. Given its important
\nposition in Indonesia's railway history it would not be too
\ndifficult to persuade them to come to Semarang, especially if
\nlinks are created with other railway heritage artifacts, such as
\nthe Ambarawa Locomotive Museum, the Jambu-Gemawang rack line and
\nthe large number of still operable steam locomotives found in
\nsugar mills around Semarang and the teak forests of Cepu.<\/p>\n
More importantly, however, these conserved legacies will
\nremind us of the cost needed to build the railroads of Indonesia,
\nnot just in terms of money, but also human suffering. It will
\nmake us remember how the thundering trains of the turn of 20th
\ncentury Java, ushering a new age of modernity and progress but at
\nthe same time increasing colonial dominance, had, for better or
\nworse, irreversibly changed its landscape, not just physically
\nbut also economically, culturally and socially.
\n The writer is a researcher at the Center for Urban Studies
\nSoegijapranata Catholic University in Semarang.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-wistful-ride-that-started-in-semarang-1447893297",
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