Sumatra Railway

The Muarakalaban–Muaro–Pekanbaru railway is an inactive railway section in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was a railway project of two parties in two different times, Staatsspoorwegen ter Sumatra's Westkust in the Dutch East Indies era and Rikuyu Sokyuku of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. Of the 246 km long railway, the 220 km Muaro–Pekanbaru segment (also referred to as the Sumatra Railway or Pekanbaru Death Railway) was created by the Japanese to connect Pekanbaru (now in Riau) to Muaro (now in West Sumatra) in an effort to strengthen the military and logistical infrastructure for coal and troop shipments. It would connect the Strait of Malacca, via the Siak River in Pekanbaru, to Padang (with its Padang Station) via an existing railway from Muaro. The railway was completed on Victory over Japan Day, 15 August 1945. It was only ever used to transport prisoners of war out of the area but quickly became overgrown by the jungle. 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.