Java is home to most of Indonesia’s railways, which are used for freight and passenger transportation. Three distinct but non-continuous railway networks exist in Sumatra: Aceh and North Sumatra, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, and Lampung. Meanwhile, Kalimantan and Sulawesi are developing new railway networks. Plans to build a nationwide railway network spanning 3,200 km of train tracks through Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi have recently been completed in Indonesia. The largest railway project in Indonesia since the country's independence from the Dutch in 1945 is being touted as this one. The current national railway network is intended to be expanded to 10,524 km by 2030.
Type of Rail Track
In Indonesia, the majority of rail tracks are single tracks and are mostly found on the islands of Java and Sumatra. The railway network spans 6,441 km in total, of which 4,500 km are located in Java. Three main lines in Java serve as vital connections: the North Line, South Line, and Bandung Line. Interestingly, the 751-kilometer North Line connects Jakarta, the nation's capital, with Surabaya, in the east, via Semarang.
The North Line near Jakarta has been upgraded to double track in certain sections, although it is still single track in most places, particularly the 57 km segment between Bekasi and Cikampek. This includes the portion shared with the South Line, an 828-kilometer route that runs via Solo from Jakarta to Surabaya, between Cikampek and Cirebon. When this route's capacity was reached in 1992, the growing number of trains using it caused an average delay of 26 minutes each train. Plans are in place to convert more portions to double track in order to accommodate the anticipated increase in train traffic, particularly in places like Cikampek to Cirebon, in light of the increased demand and congestion difficulties.
