Scoot TR251: Palembang to Singapore by Airbus A320-200

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After exploring the Palembang LRT here, here, here and here, it was time to head back to Singapore after just a night’s stay in Palembang. Despite being only a 2-day stay, Scoot’s TR250 and TR251 combination allows for a perfect weekend getaway to Palembang. Yeah, not the most impressive ideal destination from Singapore as compared to Melaka, KL or Batam, but where there’s trains, it’s always ideal for me.

RailTravel Station took this journey to experience the Palembang LRT and to produce and share original content with readers of RailTravel Station, not for any other website that you may find this post on. RailTravel Station does not believe that copying and pasting articles benefit RailTravel Station or its readers.

This time round, the further entrance to the check-in hall is now closed, used as a trolley transfer point.

The entrance to the check-in hall is now at the front, by the driveway.

The check-in hall of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport is still decked out in Jakarta Palembang 2018 advertisements.

Check-in for Scoot is at Counters 31 and 32.

There was quite a bit of a queue here, since Scoot doesn’t provide online check-in services for all airports other than Singapore and Berlin.

The empty queue at Jetstar’s counter for a flight departing just slightly more than half an hour later. Clearly shows which flight is more popular.

My boarding pass for my TR251 flight back to Singapore.

Heading up the escalator to the transit mall.

The transit mall is quite small, with just a couple of shops for the path leading to the domestic gates, and none to the international gates.

Jokowi was at the airport to bid people goodbye on his bike.

Yes, you can actually sit on Jokowi’s bike for a photo with him, the President of the Republic of Indonesia. What a good sport for the Asian Games 2018.

The path after the small central area at the top of the escalator and where Jokowi is leads straight to the immigration counters, located just before the international waiting room.

Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport serves just a small number of international destinations but relatively important to Palembang.

The international waiting hall serving passengers to Singapore, both on Scoot and Jetstar Asia.

Boarding my flight from Gate 6.

However, the “gate number” is just for assigning the counter where you get a portion of your boarding pass taken – you continue down the corridor to the actual gate the plane is parked at.

The Jakarta Palembang 2018 advertisements are blocking the clear view of the aircraft though.

9V-TAN “Nomo Fomo” ready to take me back to Singapore.

Boarding through Boarding Bridge B, which actually corresponds to Gate 3 on the apron.

Heading down the aerobridge.

Boarding the aircraft.

The Jetstar Asia flight back to Singapore is also parked beside.

The typical Scoot A320 legroom, a bit shorter than the ones on the A319.

Taxiing to the runway.

It was quite a full flight on a Sunday evening, with a seat neighbour on the middle B seat who offered to exchange seats with me during boarding (er, no thanks?), chatty passengers all around and screaming babies throughout the flight.

Heading to the runway with the new taxiway, so there’s no more u-turning on the runway itself.

Taking off from Palembang.

Goodbye Palembang.

And goodbye Palembang LRT.

Making a left turn towards Singapore immediately upon departure.

The Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport, including the new Palembang LRT line.

It was a rather uneventful flight throughout, flight-wise.

However, as the cries grew louder, all parents around decided to have a 1-hour concert of Baby Shark. I couldn’t decide if taking crying or listening to out-of-sync doo doo doo doo doo doo for the duration of the flight was worse.

Commencing the descend into Singapore.

Flying over Batam.

Heading over to Malaysia for a landing from the northeast.

The full view of Singapore from above.

Flying over Johor.

Some slight bumpiness while descending through the last low clouds.

Flying past Pulau Tekong.

Approaching mainland Singapore.

The burnt decommissioned 9V-SQK, parked beside a VIM Airlines Boeing 777-200ER. Pretty rare to see this defunct Russian airline’s aircraft so far away from its homebase.

Back at the familiar sight of Changi Airport.

Heading to South Cross to get to Terminal 2.

Crossing over Airport Boulevard.

Parked at Gate F41.

I actually quite like Scoot’s yellow livery on the A320s.

Heading to the terminal via the aerobridge.

Heading out of the terminal.

Overall, it was a great trip to Palembang with Scoot as usual (almost – Baby Shark) thanks to their low fares (book your tickets on Tuesday mornings) and with the Palembang LRT, this trip turned out to be pretty good both scheduling and value wise.

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Palembang LRT: Bumi Sriwijaya to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport by Train

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The Palembang LRT is Indonesia’s first intra-city light rail transit system connecting Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport and Jakabaring Sports City via the city centre. The line was completed just in time for the 2018 Asian Games, also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, and is now a main mode of public transport for the people of Palembang.

The Palembang LRT is also the new icon of Palembang aside from the Ampera Bridge, with the line spanning throughout the main parts of the city. This post will be about the journey between two intermediate stations of the Palembang LRT.

RailTravel Station took this journey to experience the Palembang LRT and to produce and share original content with readers of RailTravel Station, not for any other website that you may find this post on. RailTravel Station does not believe that copying and pasting articles benefit RailTravel Station or its readers.

The exit of Bumi Sriwijaya LRT Station has bi-directional escalators for easy access to the station. The elevator is still in the process of construction.

Walking to the station from the escalator. The elevator is not yet in service.

The concourse of Bumi Sriwijaya LRT Station.

If you require a paper ticket, head over to the ticket counter to purchase one with cash. Otherwise, head straight to the fare gate if you are holding an E-Money card.

Staff are on hand to help when using the fare gates.

Tapping my BNI Tapcash Transjakarta OK-Otrip card for the ride back to the airport, with just enough value (Rp.10,000) for the journey.

The concourse of the station is doubled up as a waiting room, which makes the process similr to boarding a long-distance PT KAI train instead, rather than a KRL.

5 minutes before departure, announcements are made for passengers to ascend up to the platform.

Heading up to the airport-bound platform.

The platforms of Bumi Sriwijaya LRT Station.

The Palembang LRT approaching Bumi Sriwijaya station.

Boarding the LRT train.

The typical standing-room-only crowd on board the Palembang LRT.

Luggage racks are provided above the seats on board the Palembang LRT.

Heading off along Jl. Angkatan 45.

Turning right onto Jl. Demang Lebar Daun towards Polda junction.


Poor Transportation means Stagnation

That’s right, all you who are cutting minimal costs on or even cancelling new public transport lines.

Turning at Polda junction towards the airport.

The new Palembang Regional General Hospital (Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah (RSUD) Palembang), served by the new RSUD LRT Station.

Passing by Gramedia World Palembang, a worthwhile stop if you’re still interested in reading and buying hardcopy books – clearly there’s a big market for this is Palembang.

Turning towards Asrama Haji at the airport junction.

Making a brief stop at Asrama Haji.

Surprisingly, more people got on the train here towards the airport, instead of actually alighting.

Making the final left turn towards the airport.

Passing by the new Hotel Santika Premiere Bandara Palembang.

The runway can be seen when approaching Bandara LRT Station.

A new welcome arch to the airport under construction.

The view out of the cab is blocked on this train.

Arrived at Bandara (Airport) LRT Station.

The interior of the Palembang LRT train after all passengers have disembarked.

The fare gates and concourse are located at the end of the platform, on the same level.

The buffer stop at the end of the tracks before the concourse.

The view of the Palembang LRT tracks from the concourse.

Heading out of the station. As this is the terminal station where all passengers are alighting at, there was quite a bit of crowd here at he fare gates to exit the station.

Tapping my BNI Tapcash Transjakarta OK-Otrip card to exit the station – and I now have Rp.0 left in my card.

Once all passengers have cleared from the platform, the new batch of passengers boarding the train bound for DJKA are allowed to enter the platform via the fare gates.

Exiting the station by this set of travellators – convenient for those with luggage.

A departure screen is placed on the linkway to check your flight details – my Scoot TR251 flight back to Singapore is now open for check-in.

Entering the air-conditioned portion of the linkway.

This section of the linkway is a nice place to wait around with convenience stores and charging ports available.

Passing by the Belida Fish art installation in the middle of the linkway.

Continue straight to the terminal building.

Heading down the escalator to the terminal building.

The arrival hall and central concourse area is straight ahead, while the departure hall is behind, so make a u-turn if you’re heading for a flight.

From here, I headed on to the departure hall to check-in for my Scoot flight back to Singapore.

Overall, the Palembang LRT is rather useful for airport access since there is no direct Trans Musi service from the city. Also, it is far more comfortable to use the LRT for airport access with the many luggage racks around. Hopefully, the success of the Palembang LRT can be replicated in other Indonesian cities, and perhaps, other countries may also wish to use this as a model for small city public transport options.

Plagiarised Content on Railpage – An Open Letter to Michael Greenhill, the Lead Developer and Owner of Railpage

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To Michael Greenhill, the lead developer and owner of Railpage,

As attempts by reasonable means including email you and commenting on your Facebook page has received no replies from you at all, with comments made by RailTravel Station on Railpage’s Facebook page regularly removed a few minutes after posting them, I am posting the email that I have sent you to be made known to the public here online that Railpage is a “site” that only copies articles conveniently that hardworking writers have put together for their own websites, for the purpose of writing for their website.

Copying and pasting my articles onto your website is an infringement of the paragraph as stated on the home page of RailTravel Station which states “RailTravel Station claims all rights to pictures and information produced by RailTravel Station. Copying the pictures to public Facebook pages, websites, Wikipedia or any other mass-media platform without credit is strictly forbidden.”.

Copying and pasting my articles is also an infringement of Railpage’s own Terms of Use as stated on the Terms of Use page of Railpage at https://www.railpage.com.au/static-tos.htm point 2.1 (a) and (d) which states that:
2 Prohibited activities
2.1 You must not:
(a) use Railpage Australia or the Services for any activities or post or transmit to or via Railpage Australia or the Services any information or materials which breach any laws or regulations, infringe a third party’s rights, or are contrary to any relevant standards or codes, or use Railpage Australia or the Services to advocate, aid or abet, counsel, incite or instruct another person to breach any laws or regulations or infringe a third party’s rights;
(d) use another’s name, username or password, or in any other way attempt to impersonate another person ;

As such, your acts of copying and pasting articles is a serious and obvious violation of RailTravel Station (the third party) rules and your own rules.

You are hereby ordered to cease all copying of content originally created by RailTravel Station to any part of Railpage or any other website immediately and from here on.

You are also hereby ordered to remove all existing content originally created by RailTravel Station including but not limited to articles and images originally created by RailTravel Station from all parts of Railpage.

Should all content originally created by RailTravel Station and found on any parts of Railpage is not removed by 15 October, 2359hrs (GMT+8), RailTravel Station may commence legal action against you and/or Railpage for copyright infringement, or other potential alternative form(s) of resolution.

Please send me, RailTravel Station, a response when all content originally created by RailTravel Station and found on any parts of Railpage are removed from Railpage.

Palembang LRT: Ampera to Bumi Sriwijaya by Train

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The Palembang LRT is Indonesia’s first intra-city light rail transit system connecting Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport and Jakabaring Sports City via the city centre. The line was completed just in time for the 2018 Asian Games, also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, and is now a main mode of public transport for the people of Palembang.

The Palembang LRT is also the new icon of Palembang aside from the Ampera Bridge, with the line spanning throughout the main parts of the city. This post will be about the journey between two intermediate stations of the Palembang LRT.

RailTravel Station took this journey to experience the Palembang LRT and to produce and share original content with readers of RailTravel Station. RailTravel Station does not believe that copying and pasting articles benefit RailTravel Station or its readers.

The Palembang LRT viaducts blend in well with the Ampera Bridge, with a similar colour scheme and style used to complement the scenic Musi River crossing.

The cross-river portion of the LRT viaducts run parallel to the existing road bridge, with the iconic red colour style applied onto the viaducts as well.

Access up to Ampera LRT Station is by this set of stairs.

The ramp and elevator is still under construction at the time of my visit.

The set of stairs take a weird route to ascend up to the station, from under the station rather than directly to the shop lots the bridge crosses to.

New Thyssenkrupp escalators are seen below the station.

The bridge should have really continued straight down instead of turning back to underneath the station though.

The stations of the Palembang LRT all lok rather similar to one another in terms of aesthetics and layout.

Tickets can be purchased in cash from the ticket counter, or just tap into the system with an E-Money card.

On the Palembang LRT, the ticket counters sell BSB Cash cards issued by Bank Sumsel Babel.

This time, I opted to purchase a paper ticket from the counter to feel the difference in the process.

Heading to the fare gate to enter the waiting room.

Instead of tapping on the contactless card reader, the paper ticket is read through the QR code scanner below. The response time is similar to paying with contactless.

The concourse of the station is doubled up as a waiting room, which makes the process similr to boarding a long-distance PT KAI train instead, rather than a KRL.

Seats are available in the “waiting room”.

Passengers may only ascend to the platform 5 minutes before the arrival of the train.

Once announcements are made, passengers are moved to the platform.

Ampera LRT Station is located right by Ampera Bridge.

The platform of Ampera LRT Station.

The Palembang LRT train takes the viaduct across the Musi River, parallel to the iconic Ampera Bridge.

The LRT train at Ampera, with many passengers boarding and alighting here.

Departing from Ampera LRT Station.

The train was pretty crowded for a new system. However, I think that having a third door in the middle would help with the in-car congestion problem as it is rather far for passengers to move in towards the centre of the car.

Turning towards the malls at Charitas junction.

Approaching Bumi Sriwijaya LRT Station with Palembang Icon Mall in front.

Passing by Arista Hotel. Probably useful for trainspotting but the rates are a bit too high for me.

Disembarking from the train, with lots of other passengers as well. At the time of my visit, this was the last stop of the train before it heads to the airport area of Asrama Haji and Bandara LRT Stations.

Two LRT trains pass each other at Bumi Sriwijaya station.

Heading down the stairs from the platform.

Seems to be a lot more seating over at Bumi Sriwijaya station for waiting passengers.

Heading out of the station.

Scanning my paper ticket at the fare gates to exit the station. Once the gate is unlocked, the paper ticket may be thrown away or kept as a souvenir (or even for claims as a receipt) – it is not retained by the machine.

The exit of Bumi Sriwijaya LRT Station has bi-directional escalators for easy access to the station. The elevator is still in the process of construction.

The exit leads to a sheltered linkway under construction to the Palembang Icon Mall.

The station is located by a Grab stand for passengers to wait for a GrabBike, GrabCar or to pick up a future GrabCycle bicycle.

Overall, the Palembang LRT is a comfortable mode of intra-city transport in Palembang. However, I wish that the frequency would be increased soon along with the maximum speed of the train for it to provide a truly efficient mode of transport in the city.

RailTravel Station took this journey to experience the Palembang LRT and to produce and share original content with readers of RailTravel Station. RailTravel Station does not believe that copying and pasting articles benefit RailTravel Station or its readers.

Salvator Hotel Palembang: Budget Hotel adjacent to Cinde LRT Station

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Salvator Hotel Palembang is an affordable hotel located near Pasar Cinde and perpendicular to Cinde LRT Station, which makes it convenient to explore the LRT line (aka my purpose of visit) and to get around Palembang in general since there are both LRT and Trans Musi bus services serving the road outside.

The air-conditioned front desk area is quite welcoming with chairs to sit on while waiting, and a cordial drink to help yourself if you wish to have a drink to cool down from the warm Palembang weather. The staff here were also very friendly.

I booked the Standard Single room for my stay. Here’s the view of the room from the entrance. Pretty compact.

Most of the room is taken up by the bed itself. While small, it actually offers just enough room to store things around, and the pros is that you don’t have to walk around to grab your things.

The side table at the foot of the bed offers a power socket.

The side table beside the bed also offers a power socket, and perhaps a disused socket for a table lamp. However, this corner of the room was a bit dusty.

The interior of the toilet. There was a little bit of stench in it, with the door lock not working (not an issue since this is a single room) and the door was off its bottom hinge, so the door can only be moved by lifting it by the broken door handle and setting it down again – probably why the handle broke.

The shower is located just beside the toilet bowl.

Towels and toiletries are provided.

The small sink available behind the door.

A basic buffet breakfast is included in the room rate.

Coffee, tea, the cordial drink from the lobby, and water are available.

The buffet includes toast, fried noodles, fried rice, tempeh and a freshly prepared fried egg by the waitress. It’s a simple breakfast, but quite filling nonetheless.

Overall, Salvator Hotel Palembang might not be the best hotel in terms of comfort, but the staff, location and price makes up for it. The rooms are comfortable enough for a night’s rest, the hotel location makes it accessible to the airport, Ampera, Palembang Icon and Jakabaring, and the staff are very friendly, processing the check-in and check-out smoothly and someone would be waiting at the door at all times. If I’m on a budget or require a short stay again, I would consider Salvator Hotel Palembang again.

Click here to book your Palembang hotel stay!

 

Palembang LRT: DJKA to Cinde by Train

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The Palembang LRT is Indonesia’s first intra-city light rail transit system connecting Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport and Jakabaring Sports City via the city centre. The line was completed just in time for the 2018 Asian Games, also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, and is now a main mode of public transport for the people of Palembang.

The Palembang LRT also provides a new option to get across the Musi River other than by the Ampera Bridge for vehicles, alleviating traffic jams on the major link of Palembang.

The route map of the Palembang LRT.

Palembang LRT platforms are accessible by elevator.

Boarding the Palembang LRT train.

The interior of the middle car of the Palembang LRT.

A luggage rack is mounted on top of an equipment box to maximise space.

The gangway between each LRT train car.

Quite a healthy passenger load from the starting station.

About two minutes before departure, the track is set and the line is clear.

The doors closing announcement is the same one used on board KCJ trains.

The door to the driving cab, with a glass panel to have a nice view up front.

Departing from DJKA station.

Crossing over to the opposite track.

The Palembang LRT follows the existing Indonesian railway direction of travel, where trains travel on the right of a double track, just like in the Netherlands.

Making a brief stop at Jakabaring.

Passing by Lippo Mall Jakabaring, at the main junction to Jakabaring Sports City.

Passing by the Parameswara Monument in front of Jakabaring Sports City.

The typical scenery of Palembang on the eastern side of the Musi River.

Passing over the Kertapati intersection. The road here leads towards Kertapati Railway Station and Indralaya, and onwards to Lampung and Bakauheni.

Musi II Bridge in the distance.

Crossing over the Musi River on the new LRT viaduct built beside the existing Ampera Bridge.

Crossing the Musi River on the Palembang LRT.

Locals taking in the sights of this new river crossing.

Making a brief stop at Ampera.

Passing by the Great Mosque of Palembang or Masjid Agung Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin I.

The information screens flash the next station’s name, as well as the destination of the train.

The LED signs above each door also replicate the information.

Alighting from the Palembang LRT at Cinde.

The Palembang LRT departs Cinde after making a brief stop of 1 minute, to continue onwards to Bandara.

Heading down to the concourse via the staircase.

The concourse of Cinde LRT Station. This area is treated as the waiting room for departing passengers.

Heading out of the fare gates, with staff at hand to assist passengers who are not familiar with the fare gate yet.

Tapping my BNI Tapcash Transjakarta OK-Otrip card on the fare gate. I was charged Rp.10,000 for the single journey from Bandara to Cinde, since I came from the airport did not tap out at DJKA. For journeys to or from the airport, a flat fare of Rp.10,000 applies, and for journeys between any other stations other than the airport, a flat fare of Rp.5,000 applies.

Cinde LRT Station is located by the main Cinde Junction and Pasar Cinde.

An escalator serving the up direction and staircase is available at Cinde, with the elevator still in the midst of installation.

Pasar Cinde Trans Musi Halt is just outside the station exit, in the westbound direction of Ampera and OPI.

Cinde LRT Station as seen from Cinde Junction.

Overall, the Palembang LRT is a convenient way to get around Palembang, though the current frequencies could be better once all train sets have arrived and the operating speed is increased to its original design speed. Nevertheless, it’s now a lot more convenient and comfortable to travel around Palembang easily.

Palembang LRT: Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport to DJKA by Train

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The Palembang LRT is Indonesia’s first intra-city light rail transit system connecting Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport and Jakabaring Sports City via the city centre. The line was completed just in time for the 2018 Asian Games, also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, and is now a main mode of public transport for the people of Palembang.

The Palembang LRT now offers a direct rail link from the airport to the city for just Rp.10,000 (~S$0.91/~RM2.73), making it one of the cheapest airport rail links in the world (which also makes it about 20 times cheaper than another company which claimed that they “still offer(ed) the lowest airport rail transfer fare in the world” despite a significant price hike).

The public area at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport is split into the arrival side on the western end and the departures side on the eastern end, with a central concourse for access to the eateries, shops and car park.

The new Sky Bridge linking the terminal to the new Bandara LRT Station (Airport LRT Station) is located on the departures side, cutting right through above the car park, which is a logical arrangement as it offers a direct route rather than another similar new airport link which has the shelter running around the car park instead, extending the walking time by up to 3 times of the direct route.

The new Sky Bridge is accessed by a new set of bi-directional escalators. Lift access is also available ahead, behind the escalators.

Heading up the the Sky Bridge.

The entrance to the Sky Bridge is naturally ventilated.

The welcome mural upon entering the air-conditioned portion of the Sky Bridge.

Convenience stores are available in the Sky Bridge in case you need to grab a snack after your flight, or while waiting for the next train.

The access up to the station is by a set of travellators.

Entering the station building.

The interior of the Bandara LRT Station is pretty airy. Ticket counters are available if purchasing a paper ticket by cash, but the Palembang LRT accepts E-Money bank cards issued by major Indonesian banks.

Bandara LRT Station has a double-track bay platform, which means that despite having a common at-platform concourse at the end of the track, trains depart using their own side platforms. The layout is also similar to Padang’s Minanakabau International Airport Railway Station.

Two types of route maps are available around the station and on the platform.

The view of the platforms from the concourse.

Staff are at hand to assist those using the fare gates.

A QR code reader is available for those who have purchased a paper ticket. However, I used my BNI Tapcash Transjakarta OK-Otrip card, to prove a point that major bank E-Money cards are accepted in the system, even if it’s meant for another transit system, and not purchased locally from Palembang.

Boarding the LRT train at Bandara LRT Station.

The interior of the Palembang LRT trainset. A pretty healthy passenger load, despite the higher airport access fare. However, most passengers were on a return leg back to the city probably as an LRT exploration, rather than acrual incoming flight passengers.

A wheelchair bay is available on board by the door, with a tip-up seat in place. The tip-up seat can be pulled down by anyone who wants a seat, without any external controls.

LED information signs are available on top of every door.

The numbering system of each train car follows the existing PT KAI format, with the train sets labelled as “K1”.

Trains are manufactured locally by INKA.

The gangway between each LRT train car.

LCD screens are mounted at the ends and in the middle of the train car for route information on the side and other promotional videos or advertisements.

A luggage rack is mounted on top of an equipment box to maximise space.

Most seats were filled up before departure from Bandara LRT Station.

The door to the driving cab, with a glass panel to have a nice view up front.

Departing from Bandara LRT Station.

The interior of the cab.

Hmm, I was told that the train was made in Indonesia, why do I see this very familiar logo?

The CCTV monitor is also of a certain non-Indonesian brand.

Mm hmm.

The Palembang LRT follows the existing Indonesian railway direction of travel, where trains travel on the right of a double track, just like in the Netherlands.

More than sufficient handgrips are placed along the length of each train car.

Taking the first curve out of the airport.

Making a brief stop at Asrama Haji LRT Station.

The CCTV kicks in, for the driver to watch the passenger flow of the cabin (and whoever is standing outside of the cab door).

Turning onto Jl. Lintas Timur.

The Palembang LRT uses fixed block signalling, and some signals are still not fully installed yet.

The train travels at a maximum speed of around 35km/h for the entire journey.

However, it seems that the line would be capable of speeds of up to 85km/h once it’s fully ready.

Or maybe it’s the BTS instead?

The train passes through the unopened stations at cruising speed between Asrama Haji and Bumi Sriwijaya.

Crossing with another Palembang LRT train set along the way.

Approaching Simpang Polda.

Seems like a good place to stay for trainspotting once Demang station opens.

Turning off from the main Jl. Lintas Timur.

More curves towards Bumi Sriwijaya.

Passing by Palembang Square.

Arriving at Bumi Sriwijaya, where more passengers are waiting to board the train.

Making a brief stop at Bumi Sriwijaya.

The first car towards DJKA still bears a sign for the reserved car for Asian Games contingents and officials.

Passing by Palembang Icon Mall.

A pretty tight curve just outside of Palembang Icon Mall to get to Dishub.

Another tight curve to Cinde.

The viaduct just barely passes by the corner of the existing building.

Back on Jl. Lintas Timur.

Passing over the Charitas junction.

Making a brief stop at Cinde.

The train gets a bit more filled up here, with passengers wanting to cross the Musi River.

Approaching Ampera station.

Passing by the Great Mosque of Palembang or Masjid Agung Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin I.

Passing by the Palembang Fountain Circle.

More passengers waiting to board the LRT to cross the Musi River.

Making a brief stop at Ampera.

The LRT viaduct lies north of the Ampera Bridge.

Crossing the Musi River on the Palembang LRT.

Passing over the Kertapati intersection. The road here leads towards Kertapati Railway Station and Indralaya, and onwards to Lampung and Bakauheni.

The track after Ampera Bridge is rather straight.

The LRT viaduct skirts around the Parameswara Monument in front of Jakabaring Sports City.

Approaching Jakabaring station.

Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium as seen from the LRT.

Making a brief stop at Jakabaring.

Approaching DJKA, the last station of the Palembang LRT. A scissors crossover lies before the station for trains to easily cross back to the opposing track for the journey back to the airport.

The interior of the Palembang LRT train after all passengers have disembarked.

The turnaround time for the train before heading back to the airport is currently around 10 minutes.

Looking ahead towards the LRT depot access track.

The double track merges after the station to form a single track access line to the LRT depot.

At DJKA, passengers have to disembark and clear the platform before the new passengers are allowed to access the platform and train.

The journey from the airport (Bandara) to DJKA takes 62 minutes.

Overall, the Palembang LRT is a brilliant first step for an iconic rapid transit system in the city, potentially alleviating traffic jams and providing universal step-free access to public transport currently not available in the city. With the existing efficient Trans Musi bus service, the Palembang LRT now complements the public transport network, acting as the trunk route parallel to the main road through the city centre, providing for an efficient multi-modal transport network in the city of Palembang.

Plagiarised Content on Railpage (www.railpage.com.au)

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To the owner of Railpage and all readers of RailTravel Station and Railpage,

RailTravel Station would like to inform that the only websites where fresh new posts are being released by RailTravel Station is on railtravelstation.com and bustravelstation.com. RailTravel Station does not do copy-and-paste posts on any other websites, neither does RailTravel Station have any accounts on any other websites to copy and paste blog posts around.

It is not known if Railpage manually copies and pastes RailTravel Station posts on their website, or it is an auto function.

UPDATE: It has been verified that Railpage manually copies and pastes RailTravel Station posts as this article has not appeared on Railpage, but following articles posted after this post were once again copied and pasted on Railpage.

Any posts found on Railpage and http://www.railpage.com.au with RailTravel Station content is not posted by RailTravel Station. Most recent blog posts by RailTravel Station and found on railtravelstation.com, if not all, regardless of being railway-related or otherwise, has been copied by Railpage, with an account name of “railtravelstation.com”. RailTravel Station would like to reiterate that RailTravel Station does not do copy-and-paste posts on any other websites, neither does RailTravel Station have any accounts on any other websites to copy and paste blog posts around.

UPDATE: After browsing some other articles, it is also discovered that Railpage does not seem to be the author of any article published on Railpage. Railpage is merely made up of copied and pasted articles from other sources, with Railpage almost passing off the article as their own with very minimal links back to the original article.

RailTravel Station demands that all such copied posts are removed from the Railpage website together with any mention of the name RailTravel Station and railtravelstation.com, failing which, legal actions may be taken against Railpage.

Current exhausted means of RailTravel Station reaching out to Railpage:

Scoot TR250: Singapore to Palembang by Airbus A319-100

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Scoot TR250 is the only Saturday flight flying from Singapore to Palembang, departing at a comfortable schedule of 11.30am from Singapore for the 70-minute flight. As an added bonus, Scoot assigns an Airbus A319 for this Saturday short hop, so that means extra legroom for everyone.

My boarding pass for the TR250 flight to Palembang, printed from the FAST Check-in kiosk.

The plane was parked at Gate F30, which is a perfect spot for a photo of the side view of the Airbus A319. 9V-TRA would be taking me to Palembang today, so I would have officially flown Scoot’s entire fleet of A319s with my previous A319 flights to Palembang and from Hong Kong on 9V-TRB.

Heading to the gate.

Gate F30 is the first gate on the pier, so it took just about 30 seconds to walk from the start of the pier.

Gate F30 only suits narrow-body planes such as the A320 family or 737 family.

The gate hold room is smaller too, but probably sufficient for a narrow-body flight.

As this wasn’t a full flight, I decided to board last so that I could find a better seat.

Heading down the aerobridge.

The legroom on board Scoot’s Airbus A319, which is a bit more generous that the standard A320 legroom.

The view of the aircraft from Seat 9A.

There was about a 20-minute delay for pushback with the pilot announcing that clearance hasn’t been given by the airport.

The new Singapore Airlines Boeing 787-10 parked beside Scoot’s 787-8.

It was quite a slow taxi as well to the runway.

Finally on the runway after half an hour from the estimated departure time.

Bye Terminal 5.

Flying out of mainland Singapore.

The busy shipping lanes of Singapore, just like the traffic in the air and at the airport.

One of the very few planes with the Tiger-striped engine livery.

It was a relatively uneventful and smooth flight.

The aircraft data plate of 9V-TRA.

The interior of the very clean washroom, similar to Singapore Airlines standards.

This time, even the soap available on board is the same bottle found on Singapore Airlines flights. Maybe buying them in bulk is cheaper for both airlines?

Descending into Palembang.

Landing into Palembang from the west, so no views of the city or Palembang LRT line from here.

Looks like the taxiway has been completed since my last visit.

Despite the delay in departure from Changi Airport, the flight landed in Palembang on time thanks to Scoot’s extended scheduled flight times.

Heading to the terminal building.

The terminal is decked out in Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games colours.

Heading to Gate 3.

Ample aerobridges are available at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport for narrow-body aircraft.

Heading to the terminal building via the aerobridge.

The view of the tarmac from the terminal is now blurred with the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games decals.

Parked beside a Garuda Indonesia Explore ATR 72-600.

From Gate 3, it’s just a short walk to the international arrival area.

Goodbye 9V-TRA.

The walk to arrival immigration is led by Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games decals on the wall and floor.

As I was one of the first to disembark from the plane and two counters were available for foreigners in addition to the two for Indonesians, immigration was pretty quick, with the whole process of queuing for immigration, getting my passport stamped AND customs screening (no baggage reclaim since I don’t have any check-in bags) done in less than 5 minutes.

Happy to see the updated signs around the public area of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport. No prizes for guessing what I’m in Palembang for.

Overall, not that I had any other choice for flights from Singapore to Palembang on a Saturday, but Scoot managed to deliver a comfortable flight anyway. And with the frequent promotions for the Palembang leg, trainspotting in Divre III Palembang might be a possible future.

Singapore Airlines SQ181: Brunei to Singapore by Boeing 777-300

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SQ181 is one out of up to three daily flights from Brunei to Singapore, with the other two flights operated by Royal Brunei Airlines. Singapore Airlines fly this route five times a week, with just two flights operated by Singapore Airlines’ own aircraft, with the other three using a Silkair-operated A320. As my flight was on a Monday, it would be on Singapore Airlines’ own Boeing 777-300 for this 2-hour hop.

As the Brunei-Muara Public Bus dropped me off at the departure driveway, it was just a stroll into the departure check-in area.

Looks like quite a number of people were already here 2 hours before departure.

The departure screen of Brunei International Airport, which isn’t exactly busy – there’s almost a three and a half hours gap after my flight departs.

The Internet Check-in counter was surprisingly quick.

My boarding pass for my SQ181 flight back to Singapore.

Heading for departure immigration.

As there weren’t many passengers yet, the whole procedure was quite relaxed, but it made the queue unnecessarily slow anyway. Access to the security screening x-ray machines were enforced to be an individual process, with each passenger having to stand behind a red line before advancing to the x-ray machine one by one to put personal items on the tray and thereafter to the scan and pat down.

Once done, it was a straight walk to the gates.

Brunei International Airport has just 8 contact gates, which seems more than sufficient for the current amount of flights.

A left turn later, and I was at Gate 1.

The overall interior of the transit area of Brunei International Airport.

Gates 6 to 8 are on a separate pier, and is where the only water fountain in the transit area is located to fill up your empty bottle.

My flight would be served by 9V-SYJ.

When seated near the gate, the ground crew came around to each passenger to check for boarding passes again, and gave a second stamp on it. Not sure what the reason was, when there would be yet another check later before boarding.

When boarding calls were made for those with priority such as Business Class passengers or those with a higher KrisFlyer or PPS Club tier, most passengers were actually eligible for it.

Getting my boarding pass checked (again) at the gate just before boarding.

The gate leads to a rather long and posh passageway, possibly coming from the royal terminal.

Heading down the red carpet for my flight.

The red carpet ends at the aerobridge.

Newspapers and headsets are free to pick up by the entrance to the plane.

Passing through the 2009 Regional Business Class cabin in 2-2-2 configuration.

The front Economy Class cabin of the Boeing 777-300.

The aft Economy Class cabin of the Boeing 777-300.

The aft cabin was not very full, and I had the whole row of seats to myself.

Such luxury after the previous journeys of AirAsia and Sipitang Express.

The legroom on board the 2006 Economy Class product.

Gate 1 seems pretty far out from the terminal building.

Now for probably the world’s best IFE selection of TV shows and movies.

The mandatory KrisWorld welcome clip before the main screen.

Pushing back from the gate.

Hot towels were distributed once the doors were closed.

The safety video followed after.

At this point of time, I’d like to give a shoutout to this steward (which unfortunately I only have a back shot of him and didn’t get his name) who checked my boarding pass and walked me to my seat, volunteering to take my carry-on bag to place it in the overhead compartment for me (I didn’t let him do it since it isn’t legally his job), was extremely polite to everyone in the cabin and helped me restart my KrisFlyer entertainment system without fuss after the safety video was done when I had accidentally selected the wrong language to use it on, and kept apologizing to me as if it was his fault that I clicked the wrong language.

Singapore Airlines would be proud of this guy showing the world what Singapore Airlines is.

Not sure what the hold up was, but the plane sat on the taxiway for about 10 minutes before moving off to the runway. And no, there weren’t other flights arriving or departing at that time.

Turning onto the runway for takeoff.

Brunei International Airport’s passenger terminal in its entirety.

Goodbye Brunei.

Passing by the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway.

Downtown BSB from above.

Passing by Gadong.

BSB Waterfront and Kampong Ayer from above.

Leaving mainland Borneo.

Shortly after, lunch was served.

Two choices were available: chicken with potatoes or fish with rice.

I opted for the chicken with potatoes, the western option as usual, along with a glass of orange juice and red wine.

It was similar to a grilled chicken chop, and the mashed potatoes were surprisingly moist.

While SQ no longer gives out menu cards for short-haul flights, I saw the menu of the day clipped in the galley for both meal choices. Both options look good actually, but I think the western option might still be better since the fish came with plain white rice.

The cabin interior from the back of the plane.

The very clean interior of the onboard washroom.

Mouthwash, cologne and moisturiser are also available in the washroom.

Toothbrush kits and combs can be found in the amenities drawer.

It was quite a smooth and uneventful flight.

Beginning the descend into Singapore before Batam.

Going around Changi Airport for a landing from the north-east.

Flying over Peninsular Malaysia.

Passing by Pulau Tekong on approach to Singapore.

Approaching mainland Singapore.

Looks like 9V-SQK won’t be flying any more after bring burnt by a tow truck.

Another decommissioned Boeing 777-200.

Heading to Terminal 2 via South Cross.

Crossing over Airport Boulevard to Terminal 2.

Turning into Gate F58.

The view of my spacious row of seats before disembarking.

Walking through the Economy Class cabin.

Walking through the Business Class cabin.

Heading into the terminal building.

Quite a number of passengers were transiting to Jakarta, and I’m not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but the same plane would continue on to Jakarta and the ground staff made announcements to clear security screening immediately to board the plane at the same gate.

As I’m not continuing on to Jakarta, I headed out for arrival immigration.

Heading to arrival immigration.

Baggage claim was at Belt 36, however, as I had no check-in bags, I headed straight out.

Overall, it was probably my best flight with Singapore Airlines so far with the top-notch service of the cabin crew and great tasting in-flight meal. With just 2 flights a week with an SQ-operated SQ flight, this is probably a rare but worthwhile journey.