While I sit in the queque from Jakarta to Bandung, I remember seeing on the net about Jakarta that had a tram system and found lots of interesting information.
Horse trams in the Beginning
On 10th of August 1867, Jakarta got its first horse driven tram. The route went from Kota Intan to Harmonie. This tram line went thru Jl Pintu Besar Utara and Jl Gajah Mada-Hayam Wuruk . It had 40 horses and the trams came every 5 minutes between 5.00 in the morning and 18.00 in the afternoon.
Later new routes opned in June 1869 to Tanah Abang and to Jl Veteran. Most of the stations had Dutch names, which were changed at some point.
Steam tram Arrives
On 19th of September 1881, the steam powered trams appeared in Jakarta. A locomotive boiler now transported people around in the city. They were running on the streets of Jakarta until 1899 when the electric trams arrived.
It seems like the Dutch people brought public transportation to Jakarta the right way. Even though Indonesia was occupied by the Netherlands, they actually built the towns that are known today.
How long these trams went on the streets of Jakarta, I havent found out but in this 1930s video from YouTube you can clearly see trams running:
The Future of Jakarta in Indonesia
Bring the trams back. Jakara is a beautiful city that is torn apart from itself everyday. Since my last visit 5 years ago I can clearly notice way more queques on the streets. Cars gets stuck on places for no reason etc. There are simply to many cars and the new bus system Transjakarta which is supposed to have its own routes, have cars driving in its own roads as well.
Jakarta cant wait another 2 years or 10 years for the first Metro line to be built. The city needs to take actions now.
If ministers and politicians in Indonesia reads this, they know that it is time to act now or Indonesia and especially Jawa island will be torn apart because of the traffic. Ive never seen such terrible traffic jams.
It is time to act now and Distrita told you so in March 2016!
Source:
YouTube
