The Official Beos Railway Station Operates In History Today, October 8, 1929

The Beos Station was inaugurated on October 8, 1929 by the Governor-General of the Dutch Indies, Andries Corneries Dirk de Graef. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA History today, 93 years ago, October 8, 1929, the Beos Railway Station (now: Jakarta City Station) is officially operating. The Governor General of Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff (1926-1931) is behind it. He not only inaugurated, but also the person who supported the presence of the Beos Station for a long time.

As a form of happiness, the Governor-General planted the buffalo head as a symbol of inauguration. The inauguration ceremony was also successful. The presence of the Beos station is considered to be the progress of the transportation world in Batavia (now: Jakarta).

Batavia was once in a phase of not having adequate mass transportation. Horse and canoe trains do not accommodate enough Batavian residents who passed by. Even that is the travel time far from the word efesien. Mainly for long distance.

The lack of adequate transportation has cut the Dutch profits in the colony. The Dutch East Indies government also racked its brains. All efforts are made to deliver effective mass transportation. Finally, the presence of the train was the answer. Railways are considered effective land transportation.

Facilities and infrastructure are prepared. The presence of trains is the most useful object in the Dutch East Indies. Trains can carry a large number of goods and people at one time. Moreover, the travel time is many times higher than using a horse carriage.

The colonial government began to build a railway line. It was noted that the railway line entered Batavia for the first time on September 15, 1871. The line connects Batavia benedstad (around Glodok Pinangsia Beos Station) to Gambir Station in Weltevreden (now: the area around Lapangan Banteng).

"On January 31, 1873, a 60 KM route was opened connecting Batavia-Buitenzorg by a private rail company, NISM (Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatsappij). Meanwhile, the 63 KM long Batavia-Kerawang route opened in August 1898."

"When the railroad tracks have been built for inner-city transportation, but in the meantime we still have to wait for the locomotive to pull them out, the rails will be used by tramways (trems)," said historian Mona Lohanda in the book History of the Organizing Batavia (2007).

Railways are not only prepared for long distances, but also for close distances. Therefore, the power of attorney has begun to target many station constructions in Batavia. Batavia Zuid Station (South Batavia Station), one of them.

The station was built in 1870. However, the shape of the building is still too simple. The power of attorney was moved to renovate it in 1926. The renovation was carried out so that the station building looks more modern.

The station, which was later known as Beos Station, was completed. Governor General Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graef went directly to inaugurate it on October 8, 1929. He inaugurated it by planting buffalo heads as a symbolic sign.

There are many versions of the origin of this Beos word. The first is Bataviasche Oosterspoorweg Maatschapij (Batavia railway transport airline), the other is Batavia En Omstreken (Batavia and its surroundings) which means the station that connects Batavia and surrounding cities, namely Bekasie (Bekasi), Buitenzorg (Bogor), Bandoeng (Bandung), Krawangsche (Karawang), and others.

Before known as Beos Station, this station was known as Batavia Zuid (South Batavia Station). The station was built in 1870 and closed in 1926 for renovation into a more modern building, with the help of a cool hand of a genius architect born in Tulung Agung, Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels. The renovation of the station was completed two years later, on August 19, 1929, and officially operated on October 8, 1929," said William Yang in the book Tapan: The Birth of the Conglomerates (2019).