Sumatra Railway

The Muarakalaban–Muaro–Pekanbaru railway is an inactive railway section in Sumatra, Indonesia. The railway was developed in two periods: the Muarakalaban–Muaro section was constructed by the Staatsspoorwegen ter Sumatra's Westkust during the Dutch East Indies period, while the Muaro–Pekanbaru section was constructed during the Japanese occupation under the Japanese military administration of Sumatra.

Of the 246 km long railway, the 220 km Muaro–Pekanbaru segment (also referred to as the Sumatra Railway or Pekanbaru Death Railway) was constructed by the Japanese to connect Pekanbaru in present-day Riau with Muaro in West Sumatra. According to research by the Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group, the project was initially conceived by Japanese railway adviser Genya Masunaga in 1942 principally as a means of transporting resources, particularly coal, from central Sumatra to Pekanbaru and then by river to the Strait of Malacca and Singapore. Japanese military records also described the central Sumatran railway in strategic transportation terms. Construction was reported as completed on 15 August 1945, the day on which Japan announced its acceptance of the Allied terms of surrender. The railway saw little sustained operation before the end of the war and was subsequently abandoned and overgrown by vegetation.

Currently only the Muarakalaban–Muaro portion of the railway still exists, though the line and stations are inactive; those assets were owned by Regional Division II West Sumatra of Kereta Api Indonesia. There is a plan by the Ministry of Transportation to rebuild the railway as part of Trans-Sumatra railway project, which would connect four separate railway tracks across Sumatra island.

History

A railway had been considered as early as 1898. In 1920, W.J.M. Nivel surveyed the route, and published his report in 1922. The plan was originally to connect in West Sumatra to Tembilahan in Riau. The two initial segments in construction were Muarakalaban– and Padang Sibusuk–Muaro, which was inaugurated on 1 March 1924.Bijlagen van der Verslag van de handelingen der Staten-Generaal. (1925–1928). Den Haag: Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf. Construction proceeded in stages. The Muarakalaban–Padang Sibusuk section was followed by the Padang Sibusuk–Muaro section, which was inaugurated on 1 March 1924. The proposed extension east of Muaro was not completed. Construction was eventually halted during the economic crisis of the 1930s.

According to research by the Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group, The Dutch proposals and the railway subsequently constructed by the Japanese did not follow exactly the same route. Research by the Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group has shown that the Dutch proposals generally envisaged a route from Muaro towards Taluk and the Indragiri River, whereas the Japanese route developed by Genya Masunaga proceeded north-eastwards from the Lubuk Ambacang area towards Pekanbaru.

World War II

After the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Japanese military administration of Sumatra began considering a railway connection across central Sumatra. According to research by the Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group, Japanese railway adviser Genya Masunaga proposed a railway connecting Muaro and Pekanbaru in 1942, principally in connection with the transport of coal and other resources from central Sumatra. A further railway survey was conducted in late 1942 and early 1943 by railway personnel under the Japanese railway administration based in Kuala Lumpur, rather than by the Rikuyu Sokyoku (Land Transport Bureau), which was responsible for the railways in Java.

Major construction of the Muaro–Pekanbaru railway was carried out from 1943 to 1945. The main line reached completion at the end of the war and was reported to have been fully connected on 15 August 1945, the day Japan announced its surrender. The railway saw only limited operation during and immediately after the final stages of the war. It was used for the transport of prisoners of war and other personnel, as well as equipment and some coal, but did not develop into a regular commercial railway.

By the time the work was completed in August 1945, 703 prisoners of wars had died, and about 20,000 Indonesian romusha had died.

After Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, the railway continued to be used for a limited period for the movement of prisoners of war, civilians and equipment. According to research by the Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group, prisoners and other personnel were transported from the construction camps to Pekanbaru during the immediate post-surrender period. Between 24 and 30 August 1945, the conscripted workers and prisoners of war were transported back to Pekanbaru where they learned about the surrender.

George Duffy, one of the 15 Americans there and survivor of the sinking of the recounted life and death for the POW workers on MemoryArchive: malaria, dysentery, pellagra, and malnutrition/"beri-beri" were the principal maladies compounded by overwork and mistreatment. "The average age at death of the 700 POWs who perished on that railway was 37 years and 3 months."

Track gauge

The track gauge of the Muaro–Pekanbaru railway is uncertain. Published accounts give both and . Two Japanese personnel associated with the railway's construction independently recorded the gauge as 1,000 mm, while a number of later maps and publications give 1,067 mm.

The frequently reproduced maps showing a 1,067 mm gauge were drawn decades after the railway was constructed and do not by themselves establish the original gauge. The Trans-Sumatra Railway Study Group therefore regards the question as unresolved.

Legacy and memorial

The Muaro–Pekanbaru railway was not developed into a regular railway service and was subsequently abandoned. Much of the line has since disappeared or become overgrown, although remnants of the railway survive along parts of the route. The Japanese also directed construction of the Burma Railway and Kra Isthmus Railway (from Chumphon to Kra Buri).

The Sumatra Railway Memorial was unveiled on VJ Day in 2001 at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, England near Lichfield, Staffordshire. The memorial commemorates the prisoners of war and conscripted labourers who were forced to work on the Sumatra railway project and is located next to the Far East Prisoners of War Memorial Building. The memorial's unveiling was attended by former prisoners of war, the Japanese ambassador to Britain (Sadayuki Hayashi) and included a peace stone and the planting of flowering trees to symbolise reconciliation.Memorial to Sumatra railway dead 15 August 2001 BBC News

Sumatra Railway

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