Medan to Pematangsiantar

Pematangsiantar — usually just "Siantar" — is North Sumatra's second city and the natural halfway point between Medan and Lake Toba. The Siantar Ekspres is the only passenger train on the branch, a short-distance local service run by KAI's North Sumatra division, and it takes a little under three hours.

The service: two trains a day leave Medan for Siantar, one in the late morning and one in the evening, and two run back. The train is ekonomi only, with face-to-face seating and a low subsidised fare. It is popular with locals, especially at weekends and holidays, so book ahead in Access by KAI rather than turning up.

The route: out of Medan the train shares the Kualanamu airport line as far as Araskabu, then continues via Lubuk Pakam, Perbaungan and Rampah to Tebing Tinggi, where it leaves the east coast main line and turns inland. The last stretch through Baja Linggei and Dolok Merangir runs past rubber and oil palm estates as the land rises towards Siantar.

For Lake Toba: Siantar station is in the city, and Parapat, the ferry town for Samosir, is roughly another hour and a half by road. Taking the late-morning train gives you time to make that connection before dark; the evening train arrives late and is better if you plan to stay the night in Siantar.

Set expectations: this is a working regional railway with older stock and little English, not a tourist train. For the return see Pematangsiantar to Medan; for the longer trip down the coast see Medan to Rantau Prapat.