During the Dutch colonial period, the city of Ambarawa was one of the most important cities in Central Java. This city was made a military city. A train station was built in Ambarawa to transport troops led by King Willem I in Semarang, Central Java.
But now, after centuries have passed, the station that was once used as one of the most important military railway stations in Central Java has been converted into a museum. The Dutch heritage station is now the old railway museum that we know as the Ambarawa Railway Museum. The station building has been officially used as a museum since 1976.
Dozens of old locomotives can be found in this museum, and also communication tools and ancient calculators that can still function properly can also be found there. Most of the equipment related to train operations at Ambarawa Station complemented the museum's collection. Although currently retired and has been functioned as a museum, Ambarawa Station continues to serve the train route, but of course not for transportation purposes, but rather for tourism.
Ambarawa Station itself was built on May 21, 1873 on an area of ??± 127 km². The construction of this station was under the direct command of King Willem I, so that it was initially named Willem I Station. The station became a meeting point between the Lebar Sepur area heading towards Kedung Jati towards Yogyakarta via Magelang.
The existence of the Ambarawa Railway Museum has become one of the main attractions of the Ambarawa area, besides Willem I Fort can see railroad wheels with jagged type, you need to know this kind of train wheels is very rare, only three countries have it, namely Switzerland, India and Indonesia, as a museum in general, this place will be an interesting place for historical tourism. Besides being able to see a collection of old locomotives and antique communication tools, there is another thing we can do at the Ambarawa Railway Museum, which is to feel the sensation of returning to colonial times by riding this old train, This station serves two historic colonial-era routes, namely Ambarawa – Tuntang, with a distance of about 7 km, and the Ambarawa – Bedono route which is longer distance. Traveling along the historic track using the train will be fun. Not only because what is used is an old train but also the beautiful scenery that we will encounter along this historic track, on the way we will see views of the mountains that are not far from Ambarawa, namely Mount Ungaran, Mount Merbabu and Mount Telomoyo.
Ambarawa which is a suburb in Semarang Regency is known to have beautiful natural scenery. With a journey time of about 45 minutes, we will be taken across the railroad tracks that provide peaceful rural views and beautiful mountainous terrain. The beauty of Rawa Pening can also be found while riding this train. This lorry train will usually operate until 3 pm.
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