The Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij (MdrSM, Dutch for Madurian Steam Tram Company) on Madura Island today's Indonesian province of Jawa Timur (East Java) was one of the railway companies in the Dutch East Indies. The company had its headquarters in The Hague and was licensed in 1896. In 1901 it put the first steam trams in operation to connect the western with the eastern end of the island.
The tramway is now defunct. All of MdrSM assets are currently owned by Madurian Asset Management of the Indonesian Railways Co. (Kereta Api Indonesia), 8th Operational Region of Surabaya.
History
Founding and start-up
From 1884, while the Dutch were establishing direct control over Madura (Madoera Residency), serious plans were made for the construction of trams. A number of concession applications for a tram were not granted by the government, because the applicants could not meet the concession conditions. On 26 September 1896, the former administrator of the Netherlands-Indian Spoorweg Maatschappij, EM Collard, published a petition in which he requested a concession for the construction and operation of a steam tram on Madura, from Kamal via Bangkalan, Sampang, Pamekasan and Soemenep to the port of Kalianget. The concession was granted by Government Resolution No. 10 of 18 November 1896. Permission for the establishment of the Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij was then given by Royal Decree No. 48.1 of 19 July 1897.
The deposit of the guarantee capital in the Netherlands secured the construction of the route. In 1897 Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij was founded to carry out the construction and operation of a steam train at the Madoera Residence from Kamal via Bangkalan, Sampang, Pamekasan and Soemenep to Kaliang and to construct other trams on Madura or elsewhere in the Dutch East Indies, or to operate, to exploit, to establish, to take over and to operate ships and other means of transport and equipment, or to participate in companies for that purpose."
The line was built and put into operation from 1898 to 1901 as follows: Kamal-Bangkalan (1898), Bangkalan-Tunjung (1899), Tunjung-Kwanyar (1900), Tanjung-Kapedi (1900), Kapedi-Tambangan (1900), Tambangan-Kalianget (1899), Kwanyar-Blega (1901), Tanjung-Sampang (1901) and Sampang-Blega (1901).
The company received a director from Amsterdam who was responsible for day-to-day management. He was appointed by the Annual General Meeting and supervised by members of the Board of Directors. On Madura, a steward who was responsible for the management and actual use of the railway was used. He officially had the title of Main Representative (Dutch: Hoofdvertegenwoordiger) but was called in practice for a long time Administrator. He maintained regular correspondence with the director and was also supervised by the Local Committee, which had a seat in Surabaya.
Freight transport
The transport of goods has always played an important role: when the tram company was founded, salt transport was considered to play an important role as a source of income. The production and sale of salt was a monopoly of the government in Indonesia. In the first annual report of Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij, its director, M. Tromp, mentioned that salt transport could be expected to take place on this route, as the government had just begun pressing the salt into briquettes at the time of foundation. Therefore, it was expected that the entire supply of raw salt, briquettes and fuels could be handled by rail. The Governor-General was asked to set up the salt stores as close as possible to the steam tram stops. Upon completion of the route, the company hoped to take over the transport of salt supplies, which were transported from Sampang and Soemenep to the eastern residences of Java. However, the first public tender for salt transport showed that the tram could not compete with land transport. Although the tram later transported some salt, passenger, livestock and freight continued to be the main income of the company.
Integration into the VNISTM
The efficiency of the trams, which were relatively expensive in construction, fell short of expectations, which led to various financial restructuring. In order to get the local traffic better under control, smaller ship connections to the mainland of Java were operated and on the island itself were maintained from 1928 extensive bus connections.