The first station was built in 1887 by the Bataviasche Oosterspoorweg Maatschapij, a private railway company. The station was named Batavia Zuid to distinguish it from the older Batavia Noord station, which was situated a small distance to the north, directly behind the former city hall. The public railway company Staatsspoorwegen acquired both the southern and northern station in 1898 and 1913 respectively. The southern BOS station was closed in 1923, and was rebuilt between 1926 and 1929, during which all rail services were temporarily taken over by the Batavia North station. The station building was designed in 1927-1928 by the architects Asselbergs, Ghijsels and Hes from the architectural company Algemeen Ingenieurs-en Architectenbureau in Batavia. During construction in 1928-1929 concrete from the Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij was used. The main building was the designed with 12 railway tracks, designated to connect Batavia with Buitenzorg, the port of Tandjoeng Priok, and the port of Merak near the Sunda Strait with a ferry connecting Western Java with Southern Sumatra. The new and current building was officially opened on 8 October 1929 with a private ceremony by the company staff. All rail services to the old city were then reassigned to the new southern station, while the remaining northern station was demolished. The new station was nicknamed BEOS after the previous station owners, the BOS. Officially named station Batavia Stad, it is located at the Stationsplein in Batavia Benedenstad, nowadays Jalan Stasiun Kota Barat. The station was appointed a historical and culturallandmark status in 1993.
Building
The design of the station by the Dutch architect Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels is a combination of Western Art Deco and local architecture styles. Jakarta Kota Station is a two-storey station surrounded by streets on three sides with one main entrance and two side entrances. The main entrance and hall are characterized by a barrel vault roof with openings horizontally composed with the top dominated by vertical units. The inside wall of the hall is finished with rough-textured brown ceramic and the outside wall at the bottom of the whole building was covered with green-yellowish plaster. The station floor uses yellow teak and grey wood, and for the platform floor yellow waffle teakwood is used. Jakarta Kota Station has six platforms serving 12 tracks. The platforms are sheltered by canopies supported by steel columns.
Services
Both regional intercity trains and local commuter trains start from this station:
