Welcome!
Dear Reader,
In my country, Holland, the Railway System is doing their utmost to make a train trip boring and comfortable as hell. I buy the tickets on internet or I have an electronic pass so I do not have to have contact with anyone in person. No cash money is involved either. No ticket counter, no real tickets, no human contact, nothing of that nature is involved. The electronic wall screens give me a lot of info, there is no need to ask anything to anyone. Inside the train the windows can not be opened, (air-conditioning, safety), I can not lean out the door
(doors are locked automatically) nor can I feel the wind through my hair. In the train carriage nobody speaks to me, and I will not speak to anyone either because most of the travelers who I see around me have all kind of ‘state of the art’, slickly designed buttons in their ears with strings hanging from them leading to God knows what other machine. In the special designed ‘silence-wagon’ even laugher has been officially outlawed. Most of the trains do not give you any possibility to buy a cup of tea or coffee. And if by any odd chance there is such an option, you will pay a fortune for a lousy lukewarm cup of something that is supposed to be coffee.
How different from Indonesia...
Without asking someone it is virtually impossible to get a ticket or even find your way to the right platform. Tickets come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. A
fter you finally get the ticket and have found the platform, on the train itself, that ticket is not marked with ticket punch or other fancy machinery, but with the help of all kinds of tools (last time the conductor used a pair of scissors), by all kinds of different uniformed (or non-uniformed) conductors. Sometimes a soldier is assisting the conductor. In the train, all windows can be opened, except for the air-conditioned trains, in some of the very oldest trains there are no windows at all! These trains are open all the way. Of course nobody in the train is reading, and of course there is a lot of talking, laughing, selling, begging, music-making, and so on. On all the intercity trains there is a restaurant on board, providing hot drinks and meals. Taking a train on Java is like watching a movie. No.., like watching two movies; one is playing inside, and the other outside. Both are fascinating and will guarantee you an unforgettable trip.
Peter Moerbeek
Train Stories
Ambarawa Train Tour, Traveling by an old-wooden-wagon train is a rare experience in this modern era when we are used to traveling by modern car, train or airplane. This gives a remarkable memory of the beginning of 19th century.
By Joglo Semar train from Jogja to Semarang, It sounds new to everyone. This route did not operate for long time but since March 1st 2010 it opened again and people are very enthusiastic about it.