Today Prabowo Leaves for Semarang to Officially Inaugurate the Renovation of Tawang Station

President Prabowo Subianto (Presidential Media Team)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to make a working visit to Semarang City, Central Java, on Thursday, July 30 to inaugurate the results of the first phase of renovation of the Semarang Tawang Station cultural heritage building.

The Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said that the renovation was carried out by PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) Daop 4 Semarang for 240 days, starting from May 5 to December 30, 2025.

"This inauguration is the first stage of KAI's big plan to restore the facade of Tawang Station to its original form, as designed by Dutch architect Sloth-Blauwboer and built by the Netherlands-Indonesian Society (NISM) in 1911 to be inaugurated in 1914," said Hadi in his statement, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 30.

As a building with a cultural heritage status based on the Minister of Culture and Tourism Regulation Number PM.57/PW007/MKP/2010, the renovation process also involved cultural heritage experts to maintain the historical value of the building, and in accordance with the provisions of Law Number 11 of 2010 concerning Cultural Heritage.

He said that the scope of the first phase of work includes arranging the luxury waiting room, VIP room, main hall, repairing the corridor, and improving the drainage system to anticipate puddles and flooding during the rainy season.

"This renovation aims to restore the authenticity of the historical architectural facade, overcome the problem of waterlogging and flash floods, as well as improve facilities and service comfort for customers," he said.

Semarang Tawang Station is a large class A station that serves almost all passenger train services that pass through Semarang City.

In Semester I of 2026, this station recorded excellent passenger service performance, ranking 4th busiest station in Indonesia with more than 2.15 million passenger activities and departure on-time performance (On Time Performance) reaching 99.45 percent.

Apart from its operational value, Tawang Station also has important national historical value, including as the departure point for the Extraordinary Train to Bandung on September 10, 1945 and the location of the train that carried President Soekarno in the context of the Semarang Five-Day Battle ceasefire negotiations in October 1945.

President Prabowo's presence at the inauguration today reflects the government's commitment to preserving national cultural heritage as well as improving the quality of public transportation services.

"The government continues to encourage synergy between the preservation of historical heritage and the development of modern infrastructure, so that historical buildings such as Semarang Tawang Station can continue to be used productively without eliminating their cultural and historical value for future generations," he concluded.