Gambir railway station

Gambir Station (, station code: GMR) is a major railway station in Gambir, Gambir, Central Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. The station is located on the eastern side of Merdeka Square and on the western side of the Pramuka Movement headquarters and Immanuel Church. It is operated by the KAI.

During the Dutch East Indies era, the station's name was Weltevreden Station, which later changed its name to Batavia Koningsplein Station after repairs were made in the 1930s. In the 1950s, its name was changed again to its current name, and major repairs were carried out to become an elevated station from 1988 to 1992.

Currently Gambir Station serves as a terminus for most intercity trains operating across Java Island. One of Jakarta's main commuter lines, the KRL Commuterline Bogor Line (to Bogor) pass through this station, but do not stop here since 2012. There are however, plans to reactivate the station as a stop for commuter, due to high volume of passenger that board and exiting from Gambir's neighboring-commuter only stations ( and  station). Originally, only executive and business class trains use Gambir Station, while all economy class trains and some executive and business class trains use Pasar Senen railway station instead. Since ca. 2016, the norm has changed when KAI introduced new types of economy class coaches in higher class trains e.g. Argo Parahyangan, in line with plans to gradually abolish business class trains.

History

Ground-level station (1884-1992) 

Gambir Station is located on Batavia–Weltevreden section, the first section of Batavia–Buitenzorg railway line which was inaugurated by the Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS). At its opening, the line stretched from near the old Sunda Kelapa port and south to what is now Gambir area. 

At first, Gambir station was thought to be a small railway stop (halte Koningsplein) which was inaugurated on September 16, 1871, simultaneously with the opening of the line's first section. The small and simple stop was situated on the southeast border of the Koningsplein. It was the southernmost stop of Batavia until 1873, when the line was extended to Meester Cornelis and Buitenzorg.

The stop was later replaced by the larger and permanent Weltevreden Station, opened on 4 October 1884 in the current location of Gambir Station. Until 1906, the station was used to depart passengers for Bandung and Surabaya. Its building had a roof supported on cast iron bearings in match with the Staatsspoorwegen (SS) design, according to a statement in 1881. It was designed in neoclassical style which was popular in the 19th century. Until then the NIS had not placed roofs of this type, while the SS had placed them in several places.

In 1928 Weltevreden Station was renovated in Art Deco style. In 1937 the station was changed to Batavia Koningsplein Station and after Indonesian independence it was changed again to Jakarta Gambir Station. The station did not change its form after Indonesian independence until 1971 because it was significantly extended at the same year.

Elevated station and future developments (1992-present) 

In February 1988, at the same time as the construction of the Jakarta Kota–Manggarai elevated railway, the old Art Deco station building from the Dutch East Indies era was demolished and replaced with a new building which still exists today. On 5 June 1992, President Soeharto along with first lady Siti Hartinah and government officials inaugurated the new Gambir Station by boarding the EMU train from Gambir Station to Jakarta Kota Station. 

There were 4 tracks at Gambir Station when it became an elevated line, and the station building is completely modern with a joglo architectural style and a lime green ceramic facade. The facade color has not changed, only the platform poles have been recolored into moss green. The project has spent Rp432.5 billion and was not fully completed when it was inaugurated, so that it was able to fully operate a year later. After the construction was finished, the railway track below began to be removed and the area which was originally the old station yard had turned into a car park starting in 1994.

Based on the master plan made by the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, Gambir Station is planned to be a KRL Commuterline-only station. The master plan resurfaced when Manggarai Station was planned to be used as the terminus for non-KRL Commuterline passenger trains, to reduce the density of passenger train queues on the elevated railway which sometimes disrupt KRL Commuterline trips. As a result of this plan, the Ministry of Transportation decided to separate the KRL Commuterline and other rail lines after Manggarai Station construction was completed. By its completion as the central station, all long/medium-distance passenger trains that terminates at Gambir Station will be moved to Manggarai Station in 2025.

Starting in February 2022, the SSI-type old electric signaling system produced by Siemens along with the Jakarta Kota–Manggarai elevated track has been replaced with the newest one produced by Len Industri.

Building layout and facilities

Gambir Station has four railway tracks, with tracks 2 and 3 being straight tracks. After Eid al-Fitr 2012, the station was no longer used as a KRL Commuterline stop, and its passengers were diverted to either  or  stations.

The Gambir Station current building consists of three floors. The main hall, counters, restaurants, shops and ATM machines are on the first floor. The second floor is the waiting area with several fast food restaurants and cafeterias, while the platforms and rail tracks are on the third floor. Announcements are made in Indonesian and English.

When Ignasius Jonan served as the president director of KAI, it was planned to build a restaurant using original train units in the parking area. The planned tracks has been installed, and it is planned to use the 1978 class of the former Rheostatic EMU unit from Purwakarta Station as the restaurant. The unit was separated from other unused commuter trains and stored in Purwakarta locomotive depot, because it was planned to be brought to Gambir Station. However, the plan was never realized, only the tracks were installed. The Rheostatic EMU unit chosen for the restaurant plan was also never brought, and ended up being scrapped like other unused Rheostatic EMU units. The former rail track was still visible as of 2018, until it was finally demolished.

Gambir Station is now equipped with a Rail Transit Suite, a special transit hotel for train passengers.

Services
The following is a list of train services at the Gambir Station

Intercity
 Argo Bromo Anggrek to 
 to 
 
 to 
 to 
  to  and Tegal
Argo Parahyangan to 
 to 
 to 
Purwojaya to 
 to 
 to 
  to 
  to  (launched June 1, 2023, with implementation of GAPEKA 2023)

KRL Commuterline
The Bogor Line passes through but skips the station since 2013, due to the station's busy intercity schedule. Commuter train passengers must use either  or  station and then other modes of transport to reach Gambir station. However, the station will be converted to a Commuterline-only station as intercity trains are planned to terminate at Manggarai station by 2025.

Supporting transportation

DAMRI bus
DAMRI buses from Gambir Station to Soekarno–Hatta International Airport run everyday from 01:00 until 21:00. The ticket price is Rp .

City transport
Many local modes of transport service Gambir Station, including: buses, minibuses, taxis, bajaj and TransJakarta. All transportation line noted is no more than 500 meter from the station.

TransJakarta

There are two main TransJakarta bus stations near Gambir Station, which are Gambir 1 and Gambir 2. Aside from that, there are a number of feeder stops near the station.

Gambir 1 serve routes:
 Corridor 2 towards Monas 
Corridor 7F towards Juanda

Gambir 2 serve routes:
 Corridor 2 towards Pulogadung
 Corridor 2A towards Pulogadung
Feeder routes near the station:
 Corridor 1P (Senen - Bundaran Senayan) both direction
 Corridor 1R (Senen - Tanah Abang) towards Tanah Abang
 Corridor 2P (Gondangdia - Senen) towards Senen
 Corridor 2Q (Gondangdia - Balaikota) 
 Corridor 5M (Kampung Melayu - Tanah Abang via Cikini) towards Tanah Abang
 Corridor 6H (Senen - Lebak Bulus) both direction

Regular Bus
AJA.P P106 (Senen - Cimone)
DSU P157 (Senen - Poris Plawad)
Mayasari Bakti P14 (Tanah Abang - Tanjung Priok)
MetroMini P15 (Senen - Setiabudi)
Kopaja P20 (Senen - Lebak Bulus)
Kopaja T502 (Tanah Abang - Kampung Melayu)

Gallery

See also

Rail transport in Indonesia

References

Works cited

External links

 PT KAI  - the Indonesian rail company

Central Jakarta
Railway stations in Jakarta
Railway stations opened in 1884
Stations of Daop I Jakarta