Travelling by train on Java Island

To buy your ticket, we recommend you to buy it online at Tiket It allows you to see timetables, prices and pay by credit card. We used it and it worked perfectly, we had a problem to pay with credit card, we sent them an email and they solved it right away.

However, there are two categories of trains in Java:

• Economy Class (Ekonomi Class - Eksekutif Class): It travels well but you have to take into account that the distances are usually long and the seats are not reclining and therefore the legroom is reduced.
• Businness Class (Bisnis Class): Tickets are sometimes twice the price of economy class (not expensive) but the seats recline and you have more legroom, so it's worth investing a little more, especially if you're travelling at night.

We experienced both classes and believe it is worth investing a little more and travelling in Businness Class.

There is also a dining car on the train and every now and then they pass by with a trolley selling food and drinks!

Train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta

The train departs from Pasar Sener station in Jakarta and arrives at Lempuyangan station in Yogyakarta (there are several stations in Yogyakarta, this is the most central one, be aware when you get your ticket which station it arrives at).

We did this leg in Business Class and it cost us $USD 20 each.

Train from Yogyakarta to Surabaya

The train departs from Lempuyangan Station and arrives at Surabaya Gubeng Station.

This leg we did in economy class and it lasted 7 hours. The hours felt longer, as we could feel the difference between economy and business class. What we enjoyed was travelling surrounded by locals, chatting with them and having a different experience.

The ticket cost us USD 7 per person.

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