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Yogyakartans say ‘bittersweet’ goodbye to Prameks as new train service takes over
After more than two decades connecting Surakarta and Yogyakarta, the Prambanan Ekspres is replaced by an electric commuter line.
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Officers assemble to commemorate the final trip of the Prambanan Ekspres (Prameks), departing from Solo Balapan Station in Surakarta, Central Java, on Feb. 9. (Instagram/commuterline)
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empuyangan Station in Yogyakarta and Purwosari Station in Surakarta, Central Java, may be ordinary stations for some of the many commuters who traveled between the cities aboard the Prambanan Ekspres (Prameks), but for 25-year-old Tevin, the stations and the train served as the backdrop of a love story.
After his then-girlfriend moved with her family from Yogyakarta to Surakarta, Tevin, who lives in Tempel, Sleman, Yogyakarta, rode the train almost every week to meet her.
“Between 2017 and 2018, I rode the [Prameks] every weekend to visit her or went to pick her up from the station whenever she came to visit me. My love was just a Prameks ride away,” Tevin told The Jakarta Post.
He is one of many commuters who have memories of the Prameks, which began connecting Yogyakarta and Surakarta in 1994. Making eight stops, the train departed from Tugu Station in Yogyakarta and ended at Solo Balapan Station in Surakarta – and vice versa.
The line was extended to Kutoarjo, Central Java, in 2000.
After more than two decades of service, the railway’s operator replaced the diesel-powered train with an electric commuter line train on Feb. 10. The new commuter train is similar to those that operate in Greater Jakarta.
The Prameks will still serve passengers along the Yogyakarta-Kutoarjo route.
