Construction of the Atjeh-tram (1875–1914)

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tagsevent, infrastructure, tramway, colonial, dutch, aceh, buitenbezittingen, military, pacification, 19th-century, 20th-century
aliasesAtjeh-tram construction, the construction of the Atjeh-tramway, the building of the Atjeh-tram, Atjeh-tram aanleg 1875–1914, Atjeh-tramway construction, Construction of the Atjèh-tram, Atjèh-tram construction, Aceh tramway building 1874-1917

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The construction of the Atjeh-tram (1875–1914) — in Kreemer’s spelling the Atjèh-tram — was the four-decade process by which the Atjèh steam tramway was built in successive stages from Oelèë Lheuë to Pangkalan Soesoe (511 km total), beginning with the Gouv. Bt. of 26 June 1874 N°. 4 and continuing through the 1914 close of the 1904–1914 “decade of progress” (with the final link to Pangkalan Soesoe opened 2 April 1917). In the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the construction of the Atjeh-tram is the principal material embodiment of the Dutch presence in Atjeh from the 1873 outbreak of the Atjeh-war to the 1914 close of the 1904–1914 decade.

Phase I: The first military line (1874–1885)

Construction began with the Gouv. Bt. of 26 June 1874 N°. 4, which authorised building a sea-head (zeehoofd) at Oelèë Lheuë with a 5 km railway (1.067 m gauge) to Koeta Radja. The iron-screw-pile zeehoofd was built by the Genie (Corps of Engineers), and the railway was opened on 12 November 1876. On 1 January 1882 the management of the line was transferred to the Department of Civil Public Works (B.O.W.) and the line was “narrowed” (versmald) into a tramway of 0.75 m gauge, operated as a tramweg from 8 June 1884. The line was extended to Lam Barö (~7 km), and a ceintuurbaan (belt-tramway) of about 16 km was built in 1885 along the postenlinie (line of forts) surrounding Kota Radja — the concentratie (concentrated stelling) posts — connected to Koeta Radja by three straalbanen (radial lines) to Keutapang Doea, Lam Barö, and Lam Njöng.

Phase II: Reversion to War Department (1891–1896)

In 1891 (formally 1 March 1891) the management of the Atjeh lines reverted from the B.O.W. back to the War Department — a transfer that closed the first chapter of the Atjeh-tram’s history and prepared the ground for the post-1896 long-line construction. The 1896 verraad of Toekoe Oemar rendered the postenlinie obsolete; the belt-tramway of 1885 was “gradually cleared” in the years after 1896.

Phase III: The long line of conquest (1897–1908)

In place of the dismantled belt-tramway, the long tramway of 1897 onward followed the Dutch extension of authority into the Atjeh Dependencies, tying post after post of the ever-expanding military occupation to the command centre at Koeta Radja. The line was extended to Glé Kambéng (on the left bank of the Atjèh-rivier) on 15 November 1897 and to Seulimeum on 11 January 1898 — the vlaktelijn (plain line) from Oelèë Lheuë to Seulimeum totalled 45 km (cost ƒ846,700). From 1899 onward, the construction of a second tramway in the Dependencies was also begun: between 1899 and 1906 the line was successively extended from Sigli to the harbour of Langsa, with a western branch from Sigli over Padang Tidji to Keude Breue already built in 1899. The 1904–1908 berglijntje (mountain line) from Keude Breue over the hills to Seulimeum — 33 km, cost ƒ3,100,900, opened on 1 April 1908 — crossed the watershed between Groot Atjèh and the North coast, and connected the second tramway of the Dependencies with the old tramway of Great Atjeh — the engineering keystone of the integrated network.

Phase IV: Extension and economic reorientation (1910–1913)

The vlaktelijn from Padang Tidji to Koeala Langsa (343 km, cost ƒ10,000,000) was built in stages:

  • Keudè-Breuëh to Padang Tidji (from 1899)
  • Sigli–Lhö’ Seumawè (1901–1904)
  • Geudöng–Lhö’ Soekön (1903)
  • Lhö’ Soekön–Idi (1 July 1904)
  • Idi–Langsa (1906)
  • Langsa–Koeala Simpang (1912)

The 1910 reduction of the third-class tariff from 2 cents to 1 cent per kilometre marked the beginning of the line’s economic reorientation from military to civilian traffic. The 1913 Gouvernementsbesluiten (G. Bn. of 17 June 1913 No. 59, 16 October 1913 No. 25, 8 November 1913 No. 40) approved the doortrekking of the Atjeh-tram from Koeala Simpang through Tamiang to Besitang, and from Pangkalan Soesoe to Telok Taboeban on Arube Bay.

The 1913 Aroe-baai-plannen to develop Arube Bay as a deep-water harbour — and the parallel proposal for a direct Besitang–Tandjoeng Slamat junction with the Deli railway network — were deferred in 1913 in favour of a connection from Pangkalan Brandan to the Atjeh-tram. The 1914 outbreak of the European war then suspended further extension work.

Construction resumed after the war. The extensions Langsa–Sëmadam (1916, 45 km, cost ƒ1,583,100), Sëmadam–Bësitang (1916), and Bësitang–Pangkalan Soesoe (2 April 1917, completing the main line at 511 km from Koeta Radja) brought the Atjèh-tram to its full extent. Side-branches included: Langsa–Koeala Langsa (9 km, 1906), Beureunoen–Lam Meulö (6 km, 1906), and Koeala Simpang–Soengai Lipoet (1914). On 29 December 1919, the link Bësitang–Pangkalan Brandan was completed, connecting the Atjèh-tram network with that of the Deli-Spoorwegmaatschappij. Since then, Medan could be reached from Koeta Radja by land in two days.

Management transfers

The Atjèh-tram was managed successively by:

  • The Genie (Corps of Engineers, 1874–1882)
  • The BOW (Departement der Burgerlijke Openbare Werken, 1882–1891)
  • The Departement van Oorlog (War Department, 1891–1916)
  • The Departement van Gouvernements-Bedrijven (Department of Government Enterprises) from 1 January 1916 under the Algemeen Tramweg Reglement (Stbl. 1905 N°. 516, applied by Ordonnantie of 18 March 1916, Stbl. N°. 272).

The tariff revision of 1 September 1919 raised all freight and passenger tariffs to align with Stoomvaart Maatschappij (S.S.) tariffs on Java.

Statistical summary

The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s statistical tables show the Atjeh-tram’s growth over the 1904–1913 decade: from 322 K.M. of line and f 9,000,000 of construction capital in 1904, to 465 K.M. of line and f 18,544,000 of construction capital in 1913. The line’s operating account showed a deficit every year until 1912; the 1913 figures show the line approaching break-even, with the share of Gouvernements-vervoer in total freight falling from 60% in 1904 to 11% in 1913.

Significance

The construction of the Atjeh-tramway over the four decades 1874–1917 is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s and Kreemer’s accounts, the principal material embodiment of the Dutch presence in Atjeh — from the 1873 outbreak of the Atjeh-war to the 1914 close of the 1904–1914 decade and the post-war completion of the line to Pangkalan Soesoe in 1917. The line’s successive phases mirror the successive phases of the Dutch strategic reorientation: from the defensive postenlinie of 1885 to the offensive long-line of 1897 onward; from the military administration of 1891 to the civilian tariff reform of 1910; from the purely military instrument of 1904 (with 60% of freight on Gouvernements-rekening) to the predominantly economic institution of 1913 (with only 11% of freight on Gouvernements-rekening). Kreemer’s account, in turn, supplies the precise dates and costs of every stage of construction — from the 1874 sea-head authorisation through the 1917 completion of the main line at 511 km — that allow the engineering history of the line to be reconstructed in detail.

See Also

Sources

De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 65, 68–72 (sections “Spoor- en Tramwezen” and “De Atjeh-tram”), Bijlage X (Atjeh-tram exploitation figures).

Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Tweede Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1923. Identifier: Delpher MMKB02B:000001798; PPN 395084288. Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

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