When trains pass once again through Lampegan tunnel

By YR Prahista

SUKABUMI, West Java (JP): On a hot day in July, a group of children in Lampegan stopped playing, then ran for the railway connecting Bandung with Sukabumi via Cianjur. Beaming, they formed a line on both sides of the tracks. "A train comes again, a train comes again," they shouted, almost in unison.

Their happiness was also shared by their parents. The people living around Lampegan railway station thanked God because a train would again connect them with the districts of Sukabumi and Bandung. "We have had transportation problems for almost three years," said Mang Eded, a Cimanggu resident.

Locals from the area and from the surrounding villages in Cibeber sub-district, Cianjur district, usually travel to the cities by train because other overland transportation is more expensive.

However, on March 13, 1998 the Lampegan tunnel, through which the railway line passes, was closed by a landslide. The ensuing rain, heavy and continuous, made it impossible to remove the material covering the tunnel. Since then they have had to use the more expensive means of transportation.

It was not easy to remove the millions of cubic meters of soil and rubble that had slumped from Keneng Hill across the tunnel entrance. Heavy equipment was required. And the work could only proceed when the soil was reasonably dry and competent.

"We have long anticipate the opening of the railway line gain," said Ahmad Haris, a resident of Cibokor village, while observing the trial run in July.

He was beaming with delight when he watched the train pass through the tunnel. "To the Lampegan community, the tunnel has a very interesting history," he added.

Measuring 670 meters in length, Lampegan tunnel passes through Keneng Hill, at an elevation of about 652 meters above sea level. A man named Bockman is credited with having designed and executed the construction of the tunnel using the wet casting method. It is said that he nurtured a great ambition to build this tunnel because it was first to be built in West Java.

Hundreds of local people worked almost three years (1879 - 1882) to complete the tunnel. The arch of the tunnel was covered with half-dry bricks, then the bricks were baked to form a strong support by melding with the soil above.

To celebrate his success, Bockman invited an arts troupe and held an all-night party for the locals. The party became increasingly more festive as the night wore on. The most famous dancer in the area, Nyi Sadea, had also been invited.

Locals tell the story that toward the end of the arts performance, Nyi Sadea disappeared. She was reportedly approached by a gallant gentleman and taken from the party. It was usual in those days for a dancer to be taken from the venue by a man who could successfully woo her. Usually, she would be out for less than an hour then return.

Nyi Sadea, however, met with a different fate. Nobody knew where she had been taken. When she failed to return, people searched everywhere for her but to no avail. Her story is a local legend of sorts.

According to locals, on some nights a woman can be heard crying piteously. After a brief silence, the crying will resume, heart-rending, screaming even. The locals believe that this is Nyi Sadea crying.

Since the 1998 landslide there has been no train service connecting Sukabumi with Bandung, one could take a train only from Cianjur to Bandung.

About 200 meters east of the entrance to the tunnel is the Lampegan railway station. This name at first rang strange in the ears of the local Sundanese. It is said to have its origin from the Dutch. "Steek lampen aan!" (Light all the lamps), the conductor would shout every time his train was about to enter the tunnel. To the local Sundanese, the sound was heard as "Lampegan". Hence the name of the tunnel, the village and the railway station.