Title:
SEMARANG CHERIBON STOOMTRAM MAATSCHAPPIJ (SCS) RAILWAYS IN TEGAL 1895-1930

Authors:
Farda Berlian Rachmawati, Tri Yuniyanto and Dadan Adi Kurniawan

Abstract:
Railways have been present in Indonesia since the Dutch colonial period and have been embedded in Indonesian history for centuries. The construction of railways in the Dutch East Indies was largely intended to transport various export commodities taken from forced cultivation (Cultuurstelsel). Basically, the forced planting policy is a policy that requires farmers to plant and export crops. The implementation of forced cultivation which continued with liberalization encouraged an increase in the yield of superior export products in the Dutch East Indies. The great international market interest in Dutch East Indies crops then underlies the idea of building a railway line to facilitate the transportation of crops to the port. Railways in the Dutch East Indies were operated by many private and state-owned companies. One of the private railroad companies in the Dutch East Indies was Semarang - Cheribon Stoomtram Maatschappij (SCS) which obtained its concession officially in 1895 with a route from Semarang to Cirebon passing through cities along the north coast of Java Island and several branches, including Tegal. Tegal was located in the middle of the SCS main route and also became the meeting point between the Semarang - Cirebon main route and the Tegal - Balapulang route, which made the SCS directors choose Tegal as the place to build its head office (hoofdbureau). This research provides knowledge about the development of SCS railways in Tegal and its influence on the social and economic life of the Tegal community in the period 1895 to 1930 using historical research methods. The results of this study showed that the operation and development of the railroad by the SCS in the Tegal area had an influence on the social and economic life of the Tegal community and also influenced the development of Tegal into a modern city.

Keywords:
SCS Company, Tegal, Social Change, Economic Change

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37500/IJESSR.2023.6412