Began Construction
The construction of the Surabaya railway began with the construction of a railway line used for freight transport, namely a branch line from Surabaya Kota to Ujung Port, built by Staatsspoorwegen (SS). The project plan was initiated in 1883, along with the Cilacap–Kroya–Yogyakarta railway and the plan for the Cilacap–Cicalengka segment. Due to financial and technical problems, the survey of the SS railway plan for the Semarang–Willem I–Purworejo route, as well as the proposed SS line east of Probolinggo, was halted by ministerial order, while the Minister of Colonial Affairs, Bloemen Waanders, informed the Governor-General in August 1883 that he had removed them from the 1884 State Budget, preferring to allocate the costs to the construction of the Surabaya–Ujung line (the original budget for these projects had been removed from the 1883 State Budget due to the Aceh War, the fall in coffee prices, and the wages of the project workers).
Although this plan was initially cancelled, David Maarschalk and J. Groll weren't discouraged. On 29 January 1884, before the Indisch Genootschap, Maarschalk developed a new idea for the railway line. This sparked heated controversy in the media, and was even discussed several times in the heated Tweede Kamer sessions. However, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, Van Bloemen Waanders, refused to participate, and chose to resign when he was about to complete his documents for approval by the Tweede Kamer. His successor, J.P. Sprenger van Eyk, instead pushed for the SS to immediately implement the Surabaya–Ujung and Cilacap–Yogyakarta projects. After a heated debate in the Tweede Kamer session, the funds were finally approved, allowing the Minister to include in Staatsblad No. 110 and 111 dated 20 July 1884 concerning the construction of the Surabaya–Ujung and Yogyakarta–Cilacap railway lines with a branch from Kutoarjo to Purworejo. It turns out that the first line to be built in Surabaya was not Surabaya–Ujung, but Surabaya–Kalimas (West Kalimas), which was automatically integrated with Tanjung Perak Port. This line was 5 km (3 mil) long and opened on 1 January 1886.
In connection with the development of the port area in Surabaya, a law was passed on 22 July 1899 (Indische Staatsblad No. 272) which ordered the construction of a port railway line on the east bank of Kalimas. The construction of this railway line would build an integrated goods station named Station Fort Prins Hendrik (now Benteng), located on top of the former Fort Prins Hendrik; approximately 4 km long; also building a line to Bandaran (now the line leads to the Pertamina Bandaran oil depot) This line was completed on 1 July 1901. In its development, Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij (Madoera Tram/MT) also helped develop Fort Prins Hendrik Station. [2]
By the mid-1920s, the need for a direct train service to Kalimas was finally realized with the construction of a viaduct and railway bridge on the Sidotopo–Kalimas route. Several viaducts were built around Surabaya Kota Station, including the Ngaglik, Gembong, Undaan, Sulung, Kapasan, Tugu Pahlawan, and Pasar Turi viaducts. A new Mesigit Station (Nieuw Missigit) was also built to serve transportation and control train traffic. In 1926, it was reported that the viaduct project was nearly complete. [3] On 28 October 1926, this viaducts railway line officially opened. [4]
Post-Independence (Indonesia)
On 15 November 1945, the newspaper The Argus reported that British and Indian (Gurkha) troops managed to take control of one of the stations and several government buildings in the center of Surabaya Kota. Along the Kalimas–Surabaya Kota–Benteng section, especially on the Kalimas–Surabaya Kota route, fierce fighting between Indonesian troops and British and Indian troops took place. [5]
A heavy bombing and air-strafing attack by RAF Thunderbolts, artillery, and mortar fire, and Stuart tanks helping to stabilize the situation drove the Gurkhas 500 yards and across the railway bed. Indonesian troops, reinforced with artillery and mortars, counter-attacked from air-protected bunkers built before the Japanese arrived. When the Gurkhas withdrew and accessed the railway bridge over the Kalimas River near Surabaya Kota Station. Unfortunately, they were caught in a machine-gun fire that killed 60 fighters and wounded several more.
Today, traces of the battle can still be seen on the railway bridge across the Kalimas River near this station. These traces are the bridge frame dented by the impact of Shrapnel bullets.
