Happy New Year! The year 2022 has begun. I have received news from an Indonesian rail fan. My thanks go to Faris Fadhli, who kindly sent me the recent photos.
Manggarai station in Jakarta was elevated. Manggarai is located in a subcenter of Jakarta City, and known as the transfer station between the Bogor line and the Loop line. As a result, trains on the Bogor line now arrive at and depart platforms 10, 11, 12 and 13 on the second floor. It's being carried out as part of the double-double track construction project between Manggarai and Cikarang stations.
The top photo shows a train, set 8618 (8618F) of the EMU KAI Commuter 8500 series arriving at elevated Manggarai station. Taking this opportunity, I'm going to review this train. 8618F was operated on the Tokyu line in Japan from 1976 to 2008. After retirement from Tokyu, 8618F was moved to Jakarta to spend its second life. It was a 10-car train in Japan, but has grown longer... 12 cars in Jakarta (temporarily 8 cars at this moment due to a mechanical problem). The body stripes were also changed twice. It has now red and white-colored stripes, which are the standard colors of the local train operator, KAI Commuter. The second life is busier than that of the Tokyu era.
More than ten years have passed since I moved back from Jakarta to Tokyo. Time really flies. Life in Jakarta is now ancient history for me. I miss my days in Jakarta.
