There was a
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
system in
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
,
East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
from 1889 to 1978. The tramway was operated by a private company Oost-Java Stoomtram Maatschappij (OJS, "East Java Steam Tram Company"), and later by
Kereta Api Indonesia
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (English: Indonesian Railways Company, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is the sole operator of public railways in Indonesia. It is completely state-owned and pays track access charges to the government. ...
(KAI), and was the only OJS-owned rail system survived in post-independence Indonesia. The tramway linked Ujung (
Port of Tanjung Perak
Port of Tanjung Perak ( id, Pelabuhan Tanjung Perak) is the second busiest sea port in Indonesia, located at Surabaya, East Java. It is the main port for the eastern part of the island of Java. The port is accessed from the North through the M ...
) with
Wonokromo and continued towards Krian in
Sidoarjo
Sidoarjo Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦢꦲꦂꦗ, Kabupatèn Sidaharja) is a regency in East Java, Indonesia. It is bordered by Surabaya city and Gresik Regency to the north, by Pasuruan Regency to the south, by Mojokerto Regency ...
. All land assets of the tramway is currently owned by Operational Area VII Surabaya of the KAI.
History
As the initial capital of the company, the OJS started to build a steam-powered tram line in Surabaya in 1889. The first section, Ujung–Fort Prins Hendrik, was inaugurated in 10 December 1889. The line mostly runs along the banks of
Mas River
The Kali Mas ("Golden river" in Javanese) is a distributary of the Brantas River in East Java, flowing north easterly towards the Madura Strait. This river also forms part of the border between the Sidoarjo and Gresik regencies.
History
...
.
In early 20th century, the OJS was interested in the Bataviasche Elektrische Tram Maatschappij (BETM) success in
developing electric trams in
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
. To prepare for electric tram installation, in 1911 the OJS expanded its network so that almost the entire city of Surabaya was connected by tram lines. It reached 36 kilometers of length as of 1924.
The electric tram system was officially opened in 15 May 1923.
During expansion, the main line was completely overhauled; the route that previously passed through the banks of Mas River was diverted through the city center, running past Pasar Turi and Sawahan and followed Darmo Street in the city center. Other lines built are the Simpang–Wonokromo Kota, Simpang–Gubeng, Tunjungan–Sawahan, and Simpang–Kalimas. To support tram maintenance, a tram depot and a power plant were also built in Sawahan.
However, during
the Japanese occupation the Karangpilang–Krian OJS section was finally scrapped by Japanese ''
rōmusha is a Japanese language word for Corvée. The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java (island), Java, between 4 and 10 million ''rōmusha'' were forced to work by the Japanese military during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World Wa ...
'' workers along with all OJS lines outside Surabaya. Although the tram stop names were recorded in the data, they were unable to save the tracks and stops from their dismantling.
The tram network was nationalized and operated by DKARI (currently KAI) in 1949.
The electric tramway was dismantled in late 1960s, and the remaining steam tramway was finally closed in 1978.
Line sections
These are the tramway sections in Surabaya according to the book ''Buku Jarak Antarstasiun dan Perhentian'' by the KAI.
Gallery
Stasiun WOK 2020.jpg, Wonokromo Kota tram station in 2020, located not too far from the counterpart train station
Java - Steam Tram, Batavia LCCN2014711085.jpg, A steam tram pulled by OJS No. 27 locomotive
See also
*
Trams in Jakarta
The Jakarta tram system was a transport system in Jakarta, Indonesia. Its first-generation tram network first operated as a horse tram system, and was eventually converted to electric trams in the early twentieth century.
History Dutch era
The f ...
References
{{reflist
1889 establishments in the Dutch East Indies
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
Tram transport in Indonesia
Transport in East Java