Friday 27 May 2011

“Sampai Jumpa Lagi”, Jakarta Trains

Ex-Toei 6000 series near Ancol station, Jakarta, Indonesia in 2007

On completion of 4 years' service in Jakarta, Indonesia, I am going back to Japan next month.

Among the many wonderful memories in Indonesian life, the best one is riding the Jakarta trains. As I described before
, there are many ex-Tokyo trains, a total of 346 cars in this exploding city railway.

The top photo shows the EMU (Electrical Multiple Unit) ex-Toei (Tokyo Metropolitan Government) 6000 series approaching Ancol Station, a northern suburb of Jakarta. These cars were manufactured in 1976 in Japan. They had been operating on the Toei-Mita Subway Line in Tokyo for 24 years. Then, they moved to Jakarta in 2000 to spend a new life after retirement from the Toei-Mita Line. The body was modified to the local style such as the orange-colored stripe and a fluorescent vermillion-colored “cow hunger” in the front. I like this “American West” style cow hunger very much.

The bottom photo is the EMU ex-Tokyo Metro 5000 series at Bogor rail yard in a southern suburb of Jakarta. You can see the display of the destination, which was used in Japan, with Kanji (Chinese characters). These cars were manufactured from 1966 to 1970 in Japan, the oldest train in Jakarta; however, still in operation and in good condition. I would like to thank the local railway engineers.

The time has come to return to Japan. "Terima kasih dan sampai jumpa lagi (thanks and see you again)" Jakarta trains!


Ex-Tokyo Metro 5000 series, 59F at Bogor rail yard near Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011

More information about KRL JABODETABEK (Jakarta Metropolitan Railway): http://www.krl.co.id/