The Banjar - Cijulang Tour
Construction of the Banjar - Cijulang branch line started in 1911. The first section, about 31 kilometres down to Kalipucang , was opened in December 1916. The second section to Parigi was finished in January 1921, while the short extension to Cijulang was officially opened in June 1921. The railway line was mainly built by the Netherlands Indies colonial government to open up the then isolated East Priangan ( Preanger ) region and to carry the surplus copra produced in that area. It is also believed that the line had a military purpose, and was part of a planned railway route along Java’s southern coast, from Bayah in the west to Banyuwangi in the east. One of the reasons it took such a long time to build this relatively short line was because many bridges and viaducts had to be built and many tunnels had to be dug. Along the 83 kilometres line there are at least four tunnels and three long viaducts. Hundreds of workers died of malaria and other diseases building the line. The