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Historic Ambarawa train station to reopen by year's end
End of the line: A disused stretch of track between Bedono and Ambarawa, Central Java
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End of the line: A disused stretch of track between Bedono and Ambarawa, Central Java.
The Ambarawa Railway Museum in Central Java is the site of one of the first train stations in the archipelago built by the Dutch some 140 years ago.
After almost four decades of life as a museum ' complete with a vintage engine that chugs along a preserved section of track ' the historic location, which lies about 40 kilometers south of Semarang, Central Java, is set to be reopened as a train station by the end of 2013.
'We are currently in the process of land acquisition to reactivate the railway. Hopefully by the end of the year, the train station will begin to operate again,' Makmur Syaheran, the spokesman for state owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Ambarawa, previously named the Willem I Train Station, was opened in 1873 to connect Semarang, the nation's first rail hub, with a Dutch military base, Willem I Fort, located nearby.
When the station closed in 1976 and became a museum, people started to built ersatz homes along the railway tracks that run from Kedungjati to Tuntang in Central Java.
'We are now cooperating with the Transportation Ministry to revive the 36.7-kilometer track from Kedungjati to Tuntang. The ministry is in charge in repairing the railway, while KAI is paying for the compensation for the residents,' Makmur said, declining to reveal the budget for land acquisition.
However, Makmur said that 110 families living in Kedungjati district and 127 families in Tuntang district have agreed to relocate from the area.
'We are currently in a negotiation process with 88 families living in Beringin district, which is located between Kedungjati and Tuntang. Another 126 families living near Ambarawa are also still compromising with us to move from the area,' he said.
According to Makmur, reopening the station is aimed at boosting economic activity in the area, as well as easing traffic congestion.
'The reactivation of the track will stimulate the tourism potential in the area, which will inevitably support the province's hospitality and culinary industry, in addition to improving our service in providing public transportation,' he said.
Transportation Ministry's director general for railway affairs Hermanto Dwiatmoko previously said that the ministry had allocated Rp 200 billion (US$17.6 million) to reactivate several defunct railway stations to increase passenger numbers and supplies transported by train.
These would include the 45-kilometer track from Cianjur to Padalarang (West Java), the 33-km line from Surakarta to Wonogiri (Central Java) and the 9-km line from Jakarta Kota to Tanjung Priok (Jakarta).
According to data from the ministry, there is around 2,000 km of idle railtrack across the country.
