Currently Jakarta is trying so hard to solve transportation problems. One solution that was offered was to rebuild the tram line. For some observers, the government’s idea is very reasonable because the load capacity is quite high. Kompas reported, the city tram can transport 80,000 passengers per hour, monorail 40,000 passengers per hour, a hard rail transit (like @CommuterLine) 140,000 passengers per hour, and bus rapid transit (such as TransJakarta bus) only 25,000 passengers per hour.

However, Jakarta is already familiar with the tram. In 1869, Trams had appeared in Jakarta. The first generation is called Horse Tram. As the name implies, the train pulled three or four horses. Horse tram head away is five minutes and operates daily from 05:00 to 20:00. But the existence of the horse tram brought many problems, not only the number of death horses due to fatigue, but also the streets are become dirty due to horse dirt.

In 1881, the presence of steam trams replaced the horse tram. Tram was run with locomotive boiler with a longer route and operates daily from 06.00 to 19:00. But the steam tram was also very noisy and often stop operate when the rainy season came. Then on 10 April 1899, the third generation of tram came, the electric tram. However, the presence of an electric tram does not necessarily remove the presence of steam tram. The steam tram actually stopped operating in 1933.

Electric tram had its own story for the citizens of Jakarta. Along with the surge in the population of Jakarta, electric trams were always full. In fact, after the proclamation of independence, electric trams remain the primary transportation for the capital.

Unfortunately, electric trams only lasted 27 years. In 1960, when Jakarta was under Sudiro Administration, electric trams removed. Electric tram is considered the source of congestion, especially in Gajah Mada Street. In fact, sometimes the trigger congestion was Oplet.

Bung Karno himself did not agree with the existence of the electric tram. According to him, the electric trams are less suitable for a city like Jakarta. He also proposed metro subway trains to replaced the trams

The last remaining tram railways still can be seen today. The last tram track was discovered during excavations in 2002 – 2003 around the museum. Now the last remaining tram railway is protected with glass boxes and we can see right across the Jakarta History Museum or aside from Fatahillah Post Office.

How to get here (see the route map):

From Juanda / Gondangdia / Cikini go to platform 1 and take the Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota. From here go to the North Exit then take a 5 minute walk to the North

From Tanah Abang go to platform 3 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and take the Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota. From here go to the North Exit then take a 5 minute walk to the North

From Sudirman go to platform 2 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and take the Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota. From here go to the North Exit then take a 5 minute walk to the North

See the link map or the map below