Semarang Govt Mulling to Revive Its City Tram

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Petir Garda Bhwana

Senin, 1 November 2021 13:56 WIB

A number of visitors are surrounding the steam locomotive collection at the Willem I Ambarawa Station Railway Museum, Semarang, Central Java, Wednesday, December 25, 2019. Willem I Ambarawa Station is used as the first railway museum in Indonesia, storing a collection of 22 old steam locomotives, produced in 1902-1928, from railroad factories in the Netherlands and Germany, such as Chemnitz, Esslingen, Wienterthur, or Egestroof Linden, which have historical value for the long struggle for the Indonesian people. TEMPO/Imam Sukamto

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tram, a public transportation mode, is currently on the discussion of being revived again by the Semarang City Government. As one of the central cities for government and economy in Dutch Colony era, the rail based transportation used to be popular.

Semarang's deputy mayor, Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu mentioned that the plan is being discussed with PT Industri Kereta Api or PT INKA. "The tram's still being discussed by government and PT Inka," she said on Wednesday, October 27, 2021.

Heaverita, or better known as Mbak Ita, didn't mention which route the tram would take. She mentioned the discussion for the operation is still on-going.

Transportation observer of Soegijapranata Catholic University and Head of People's Advocacy of Indonesian People Transportation, Djoko Setijowarno called the tram is out of date instead. "Tram is old tech for now."

According to him, there has been a new public transportation services in the form of autonomous rail rapid transit (ART) and he thought it would suit better rather than the tram. He also questioned who will buid the tram network in Semarang and where do the subsidy for operation came and who's the targets. "Demand from who?"

Deputy of Semarang Regional People's Representative, Wahyoe Winarto supported the tram's plan. However, he explained his substantive reasons. "Fixing public transportations will reduce traffic jams," said Winarto.

Currently, Semarang has the primary public transportation in the form of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Trans Semarang. "Trans Semarang main transportation is connected to Trans Jateng," said Ita. Trans Semarang routes are connected to Trans Jateng routes, which are heading to Semarang, Kendal and Demak.

Launched in 2009, BRT Semarang has eight corridors. The government also provided transportation units for connecting to areas that are far from the BRT bus stop. "Feeders are for the outskirt area," said Ita.

Tempo.co | Graven Fikri (Internship)