Medan Railway Station

Medan Railway Station

Medan railway station is the central station in Regional Division 1 North Sumatra and Aceh. It is the biggest station in the division and able to serve up to 2000-2500 passengers per day within the scope of North Sumatra operation area. Moreover, Medan station also provides city check-in service for airline passengers at Kualanamu International Airport. In Indonesia, Medan station is the first station that applies such system. The station is located in the city center, that is, in Stasiun Kereta Medan Street, Gang Buntu, East Medan, Medan, North Sumatra 20231. It lies exactly ahead of Lapangan Merdeka. The station area is surrounded by shopping centers and historical buildings, such as Kantor Pos Besar Medan and Kota Lama City Hall that is now opened as a hotel.

Medan City

Medan is the capital city of North Sumatra Province. The city is Indonesia’s third biggest metropolitan area after Jakarta and Surabaya. As the most successful city in Sumatra Island, Medan is the main gate to access western part of Indonesia. The access is opened through Kualanamu International Airport and Belawan Harbor.

Medan is a multi-ethnic society. Medan citizens come from a variety of cultural background, such as Malayan, Bataknese, Javanese, Chinese, Mandailing, and Minangkabau. In terms of economic state, Medan is broadly known as the fastest growing trade city. Therefore, it is not surprising that many tourists visit this city for business and treading reason.

As a well-developed city, Medan also offers interesting choices of tourist destinations, especially the historical sites. Old and antique buildings from Dutch colonialism beautify the city and become the exciting tourist attractions. Several landmarks that are worth-exploring include Kota Lama City Hall, Maimun Palace, Tirtanadi Water Tower, Shri Mariamman Temple, and Medan Raya Mosque.

Interesting Facts about Medan

Medan is the first city in Indonesia that integrates railway station with airport

The integrated check-in system of airport and railway station is firstly applied in Medan Station. This airport-station system has been operated since 2013 by connecting the route to Kualanamu International Airport and Medan railway station. The connecting routes are supervised by PT Railing, with the cooperation of PT KAI (Persero) and PT Angkasa Pura II.

The airport train connects Kualanamu International Airport to Medan city in a forty-five-minute trip. The train itself is supported by modern facilities, including free wifi.

Kualanamu International Airport is Indonesia’s best airport

Kualanamu International Airport in Medan is believed to be the best airport in Indonesia. It is the only airport from Indonesia, and even from Southwest Asia that included on the list of top 10 best regional airports by World Airport Awards 2015. Indeed, in terms of building design and airport facility, Kualanamu has complete facilities as well as is the most luxurious airport compared to other international airports in Indonesia.

Starting its operation in 2013, Kualanamu owns a number of excellent facilities, including airport train, automatic luggage system, autonomous information system, as well as a large and exclusive airport lounge.

Medan and the uniqueness of language

The common language used in Medan has slightly different meaning from the everyday use of Bahasa Indonesia. The word "kereta" and "kereta api" in Bahasa Indonesia have the same meaning as a train. However, in Medan, you have to use the word "kereta api" instead of "kereta” because the second word means “sepeda motor” or motorcycle, not train.

Another example is the word “motor.” While that word means motorcycle in Bahasa Indonesia, people in Medan refer to it as a car or any other four-wheel vehicles. In addition, the word “pajak” that means “tax” is referred as a market or “pasar”, whereas the word “pasar” means “jalan raya” or the main street in Medan.