Железные дороги Индонезии: история, современное состояние и перспективы развития.

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Urban railway exist in form of commuter rail in all provinces and metropolitan areas of Java – notably in Jakarta – as well as Medan, North Sumatra. New mass rapid transit and light rail transit system are currently being introduced in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra. Despite Indonesia having a left hand running for roads, most of the railway lines use right hand running due to Dutch legacy. Indonesia's rail gauge is 1067, although 1435, 750, and 600 lines previously existed. Newer constructions in Sumatra including Aceh, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua, along with the Jakarta LRT and Jakarta Bandung HSR, are using the 1435 gauge. Most of the Jakarta metropolitan area is electrified at 1500 V DC overhead. Indonesia's railways are primarily operated by the state owned Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), its commuter subsidiary KAI Commuter, and the airport rail link subsidiary KAI Bandara. Majority of the railway infrastructure is owned by the Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation, and railway companies pay a "track access charge" fee for using the railways. Various narrow gauge industrial tramways operate in Java and Sumatra, serving the sugarcane and oil palm industries.

The first railway line in Indonesia opened in 1867 and was initially laid to standard gauge size. The railways were gradually expanded by both the state and private companies. The Japanese occupation and the Indonesian War of Independence left Indonesia's railways in a poor condition. A batch of 100 steam locomotives were ordered in 1950, and dieselisation started in 1953. By the 1980s most mainline services had been dieselised. Electric multiple units were obtained from Japan beginning in the 1970s, replacing 60 year old electric locomotives. Since the independence era, all mainline railways in Indonesia have been managed by the state. The owners of the private railway were compensated first, but the system was fully nationalised in 1971. Construction of new railway lines has been scarce, and most new construction is concentrated on double and quad tracking of existing railway lines. Most of the former tramway lines have been closed, reducing the mileage from about 7000 km to only 3000 km.

The sole regulator of Indonesian rail transport system is the Directorate General of Railways of the Ministry of Transportation. Established on 5 August 2005 during the administration of the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Minister of Transportation Hatta Rajasa, the directorate general was designed to regulate rail transport policies in Indonesia. The first Director General was Soemino Eko Saputro, who had served as CEO of Perumka, the predecessor of Kereta Api Indonesia. When he was served as the Director General, Saputro was involved in a corruption case concerning procurement of EMUs from Japan, which caused the state to lose IDR 20 billion.

The first railways in Indonesia were built on the island of Java, using gauge. During the Japanese occupation, they were converted to gauge. At its greatest extent, the Javanese Madurese network had a length of , connecting most parts of the island. The Javanese network train (in Java Island) is divided into nine operating divisions.

The first railway network in Kalimantan island was opened in 1908, serving the oil refinery and port of Balikpapan. It was closed in 1950. In 2010, plans were announced for Kalimantan to get a 122 km long railway for the transport of coal between the Muara Wahau [id] mine and the port of Bengalon. In January 2016, Russian Railways reported that the construction of a railway in Kalimantan will finish in 2019; however, in 2022 they withdraw from the initial investment plan so the railway construction was canceled.

In 2019, it was reported that governor of Bali Wayan Koster is planned to build railways on Bali with standard gauge. The railway "is keen to improve Bali's transportation infrastructure and is considering plans to build an electric rail network across the island". According to the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi in early February 2024, an LRT system is planned to be built in Bali, with the route spanning from the Ngurah Rai International Airport to Mengwi. The Phase 1 of the project, which was expected to be started in September 2024, would connect the Ngurah Rai Airport with Kuta. The construction for the Phase 1 would be supported by feasibility studies and loan from South Korea.

The first railway network in Sulawesi was opened in 1922 connecting Makassar and Takalar, but was closed in 1930 due to poor revenue. The newer Trans Sulawesi Railway is under construction as of 2022. It will be built with standard gauge, which is wider than the cape gauge used in Java and most of Sumatra to accommodate more weight and speed. The ground breaking of Makassar–Parepare route was conducted on 18 August 2014 in, Siawung Village, Barru District, Barru Regency. On early November 2022, 66 kilometres of railway from Barru to Pangkep was inaugurated and operational. As of 2022, it is the only operational part of the railway.

A 440 km railway from Manokwari to Sorong in West Papua province is planned. In Papua there is also a subway line assigned to transport mining products which is located in the Grasberg mine, Mimika Regency, near Puncak Jaya, and operated by PT. Freeport Indonesia and has been operating since 2019. Besides that, a train line is also operated specifically for students at the Nemangkawi Mining Institute.

Indonesia had various types of locomotives, being the legacy of the many different companies. Surprisingly, only five steam locomotives remain in operable condition, with two located in the Ambarawa Railway Museum, two in Surakarta running the Jaladara excursion train, and one in the Sawahlunto Railway Museum. On the other hand, static steam locomotive displays are located in the Transportation Museum (under the auspices of the Department of Transportation) in Jakarta's Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park) and Ambarawa Railway Museum (managed by PT Kereta Api) in Central Java. Plinthed locomotives can also be found in most cities and towns. Somewhat surprisingly, few non locomotive rolling stock were preserved. With the Asian economic crisis of 1997, remaining hulks of steam locomotives formerly standing in former depots became valuable for their scrap value, and by 2000, most locomotives not already plinthed or sent to museums were scrapped, presumably illegally. Four operable industrial steam locomotives are present, with two more preserved, at the Cepu Forest Railway. This currently represents the largest concentration of active preserved steam locomotives in Indonesia. Several "last" steam locomotives were built for Indonesia. E10 60, a 1966 built rack steam locomotive (Esslingen 5316) is operable in Sawahlunto Railway Museum. BB84, the last Mallet locomotive built for a non tourist railway (according to Durrant) was built by Nippon Sharyo Keizo Kaisha in 1962 (works number 2007). This locomotive was plinthed in Banda Aceh and survived the December 2004 tsunami. The locomotive is in rather poor condition with its valve gear and cylinder pistons missing (as of March 2006). SS 1600 class steam locomotive No. 1622 "Sri Gunung" (Mountain Queen), a 1067 mallet built in 1928, preserved in the Dutch Railway Museum. The Trangkil No. 4 (Hunslet Engine Company 3902) was built in 1971, being the last steam locomotive built at Hunslet's Jack Lane Works in Leeds, England. The locomotive was used on the Trangkil sugar mill estate on Java. It has been repatriated to the UK in 2004. Sragi No.1 (Krauss) was built in 1899, restored to working order in 2008. This locomotive is a former sugar cane carrier in Pekalongan, Central Java. Then there are two other locomotives namely Pakis Baru No. 1 (Orenstein & Koppel built 1900) and Pakis Baru No. 5 (Orenstein & Koppel built 1905), both of which were former locomotives belonging to the Pakis Baru sugar factory in Pati, Central Java. All locomotives now preserved at Statfold Barn Railway, England.

As of 2016, PT Kereta Api operates about 350 units of diesel locomotives divided into classes in Java and Sumatra used both for passenger and freight services. The first diesel locomotive owned by PT Kereta Api was CC200 class, built by General Electric in 1953.

As of August 2017, PT Kereta Api's commuter subsidiary, Kereta Commuter Indonesia, operates 758 units of electric multiple units (EMU) in Greater Jakarta area. Most EMUs operated in Jakarta are secondhand trains acquired from major urban railway operators in Greater Tokyo in Japan, such as East Japan Railway Company and Tokyo Metro.

KAI provides extensive passenger services. Various classes are available, from luxury class with reclining seats and plane like facilities, executive class with air conditioner and reclining seat comparable to the better classes of other countries' railways, business coaches which recently have been equipped with air conditioner and reclining seats much like executive class, to the hard bench, but still air conditioned, economy class coaches for cheaper trains. In last couple of years, the business and economic class are in the process of being equipped with air conditioned system. The whole process was completed in early 2013. Sleeper trains have existed in Indonesia. The last all sleeper train service was Bima express train which ran from 1967 to 1984 when it was changed to mostly coach, leaving only one or two sleeping cars. It ran in this configuration until 1995, when the sleeper cars were withdrawn and modified into seating coach. Since 2018, sleeper trains have been re activated for the Argo Bromo Anggrek (Jakarta to Surabaya), Taksaka (Jakarta to Yogyakarta), Argo Lawu and Argo Dwipangga (Jakarta to Solo), and Gajayana (Jakarta to Malang). In Java, most trains connect Jakarta and the hinterland regional (or "cross country" services) have not been fully developed. Between pairs of important cities such as Jakarta and Bandung, intensive hourly services are provided. Most passenger trains in Indonesia, except commuter locals, are named. The names varies from plainly descriptive such as Depok Ekspres (a former fast service between Jakarta and Depok), through Logawa (name of a river near Purwokerto, which is served by the train), Argo Lawu (Mt. Lawu, an extinct volcano near Solo, which is served by the said express train), to more or less meaningless, though romantic, names such as Bangunkarta (abbreviation of names of cities it serves: Jombang Madiun Jakarta) and Matarmaja (Malang Blitar Madiun Jakarta). Railway passenger services experienced a renaissance in the 1995 1999 period, with the introduction of many new passenger express services. With the advent of cheap airplane tickets, KAI experienced a downturn in the number of passengers carried, though the number has stabilized and most trains remain at more than 50% occupancy rate.

As a response to many reports of sexual harassment in public places, including commuter trains and bus, KAI launched women only carriages in some KRL Jabodetabek commuter trains in Jakarta metropolitan area in August 2010. On May 13, 2013, KAI changed women only trains to regular trains which at the front and back of the train has a coach for women only. This rule apply in KRL Jabodetabek.

KAI designates priority seats to elderly passengers, pregnant women, disabled passengers and mother with infant to ride public transport with an equal degree of access and comfort as other people. Priority seat not only in the first and end of the train like in women only carriages, but eight seats in each carriage are designated as priority seats. This apply in KRL Commuterline.

KAI relaunched the Sleeper Train service on June 11, 2018. This sleeper train is equipped with excellent facilities even in the same class as a first class aircraft cabin. The first route for sleeper train is from Gambir Jakarta to Surabaya. The Luxury Sleeper Train is managed by another KAI subsidiary, KAI Wisata.

The railway system in Java is more or less a passenger oriented system, and there are few freight services, due to the limited capacity of the tracks. Some notable freight services in Java include the Kalimas container train and the Parcel train between Jakarta and Surabaya, petroleum trains between refineries or oil pipe terminals and oil depots, and quartz sand trains in Central Java. Besides being operated for Krakatau Steel, the train will later be used to supply steel from Cilegon to other areas. But in recent years, there have been many efforts to increase freight traffic in Java by introducing the GE CC206 locomotives, as well as building double track lines that connect Jakarta and Surabaya on the North Coast line to increase the number of container trains between both cities. Many container ports have also been built in intermediate cities and towns. This effort has already attracted some customers who normally shipped their products via road. The system in South Sumatra is rather freight oriented. Coal unit trains, carrying coal for an electricity plant is given priority over passenger trains, and Pulp unit trains to transport pulp for paper mills. In West Sumatra, the remaining railway line serves the cement plant at Indarung, near Padang, and in North Sumatra, several oil palm and rubber plantations are served by freight trains. In Papua, Freeport Indonesia uses underground trains to carry ore from mine to mill.

Trams formerly existed in Jakarta, Surabaya, Malang, and Semarang before their service was closed after independence. In Jakarta the tram lines are operated using track gauge operated by Bataviasche Verkeers Maatschappij and Pengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta, while in other areas track gauge were used. In Greater Jakarta, KRL Commuterline and Jabodebek LRT is operational urban rail network, serving commuter routes which comprises cities of DKI Jakarta, Depok, Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang, and South Tangerang as well as regencies of Bogor, Bekasi, and Lebak. The other operational urban rail networks are Jakarta provincially owned Jakarta MRT, Jakarta LRT, and Soekarno Hatta Airport Rail Link to support the public transport network in the area. Regional rail functions as commuter rail in Greater Surabaya, so technically there is no urban rail network. However, there are plans for a mass rapid transit network in and around Surabaya. A 32 km diesel line from Mojokerto to Sidoarjo has been put into service, with 6 daily return trips. Greater Medan is served by Kualanamu Airport Rail Link. Sri Lelawangsa commuter train connects Medan and nearby Binjai. In Palembang, Palembang Light Rail Transit had operate in June 2018, before the 2018 Asian Games. In greater Yogyakarta and Surakarta, KAI Commuter Yogyakarta Line operates between Yogyakarta, Klaten and Surakarta. Prambanan Express connects Yogyakarta with Purworejo. Yogyakarta International and Adisumarmo Airport Rail Links exists in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, respectively. In Padang, Minangkabau Express is in operation.

In Indonesia, there are several train lines that were built for tourist destinations, such as the Gamplong tram line in Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta using track gauge, the Ancol mini train line in Jakarta using track gauge, and the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) tourist mini train line in Jakarta using 600 mm track gauge. In addition to operating mini trains, TMII also operates SHS 23 Aeromovel Indonesia or Titihan Samirono, a light rail which was initially a wind powered aeromovel.

In Indonesia there are several palm oil companies that operate trains to transport palm fruit, either from oil palm plantations to mills or just as a means of passing. The oil palm carriage is commonly referred to as "Lori Muntik". The palm oil mills are spread across Sumatra and Kalimantan. The track gauge used is Several large palm oil companies that use this train, including PT. Socfindo, PT. BSP, PTPN II, PTPN IV in Sumatra, Sawit Seberang Factory Railway, and several other palm oil mills.

In North Sumatra there is a rubber factory that still operates trains to transport rubber latex to the factory, one of which is PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantations in Kisaran. The train was pulled by a small diesel locomotive made by Hokuriku, Schöma, and several other small locomotives. The track gauge used is There's also track connecting the facility with the mainline railway.

PT Freeport Indonesia, which is a mining company, operates underground mining trains to facilitate the transportation of copper, gold and silver ore materials to the processing plant location at Mile 74, Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua. The locomotive used is the MMT M 270 BDE diesel locomotive made by Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik, Germany. Cikotok, Banten formerly known as one of the gold mining areas in Indonesia operated by PT. Antam. In order to smooth the flow of raw gold distribution, a railway line was operated. The train used is a small train with a track gauge of about 700mm. However, because the gold stock here ran out, in 2016 the mine was closed and only ruins were left, as well as the Cirotan mine monument which contained an artificial diesel locomotive Deutz Fahr on display at that place. Apart from Cikotok, PT Antam also operates mining rail lines in other areas, one of which is in Bogor, West Java

In Sebelimbingan, Pulau Laut, South Borneo there is a relic Dutch coal mine. At that time, a railway line was built from the mine site which was used to transport coal to the port and later brought it to the Netherlands. Now the mines and railroad tracks are just ruins. In addition, in several other areas in South Kalimantan mining railway lines have also been built, such as in Amuntai, Martapura, several other places. Until around the 1950s, the oil refinery that is now owned by Pertamina in Balikpapan still operated mini trains with small track gauges to transport oil from the refinery to the port. Currently there is no relic left.

In recent decades, Java's transportation backbones — north coast road and railway system that serves Jakarta Surabaya corridor, has suffered greatly from both freight and passenger congestion. The plan to build a high speed railway system in Java has been around for many years. However, it was not until 2008 that the idea had been contemplated seriously. It was Japan International Cooperation Agency's proposal that initiated the idea to build high speed rail for the Indonesian island of Java, linking up the densely populated corridor from the capital Jakarta to Surabaya city (covering 730 km) in East Java. Japan is eager to export their Shinkansen high speed rail technology abroad. Following up JICA's initial study in 2012, the detailed feasibility study was concluded in 2014. In recent years, Indonesia has been undergoing a revival in railway expansion and upgrades. The high speed rail corridors have been proposed but not implemented yet, since it was deemed too costly. In April 2015, China had entered the race with a counter offer to build the Jakarta Bandung high speed rail in Indonesia. A bid which alarmed Japan that has been nurtured the idea for years. In July 2015, the Indonesian government announced their plan to build the high speed rail system connecting Jakarta and Bandung, and devised a competition between Japan and China train makers as potential bidders. Japan and China have expressed their interest in the project; both countries had done comprehensive studies of the project. In late September 2015, Indonesia awarded this multibillion dollar railway project to China over Japan. The proposed high speed rail will connect the nation's capital Jakarta with Bandung city in neighboring West Java province, covering a distance of 150 kilometers, and is also expected to expand further, connecting to Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya in East Java. In May 2020, coordinating Economics Minister Airlangga Hartarto announced that the government had decided to extend the China backed Jakarta Bandung high speed railway project to Surabaya. The line would run along a southern route to connect the Jakarta Bandung project with Surabaya via Kertajati, where the government recently built a new airport, as well as via Surakarta and Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, Japan is working on the Java North Line Upgrading Project, which would connect Jakarta and Surabaya with a route along the northern coast of Java via Cirebon in West Java and Semarang in Central Java. A proposed travel speed of 150 km per hour for the 720 km railway connection would allow for the use of existing tracks, hence resulting in the lower development cost of about $5 billion. In 2023, the Jakarta Bandung High Speed Rail construction partially finished and is set to start commercial operation starting October 2023. The Jakarta Bandung HSR began trial operation with passengers on 7 September 2023 and commercial operations on 2 October 2023. Indonesia and Chinese authorities discussed further plans to extend the railway across the Java island, from Jakarta to Surabaya with estimates 3.5 hours from Jakarta to Surabaya.