Rantau Prapat to Medan

Around 275km north from Rantau Prapat to Medan, taking six to eight hours through the palm oil and rubber estates of North Sumatra.

Almost no foreign visitors take this train, which is most of its appeal. The line runs through a working agricultural landscape of plantation towns and estate sidings that sees essentially no tourism, and the journey is a genuine look at a part of Indonesia the guidebooks skip.

Which trains run this route: Sribilah is the principal service, with both day and overnight departures. The ekonomi-only Putri Deli joins the same line at Kisaran on its way from Tanjung Balai, but it does not run to Rantau Prapat.

Set expectations. Rolling stock here is older than on Java's main lines and English is far less widely spoken than in Yogyakarta or Bali. Arriving into Medan connects you to the Kualanamu airport line, which is the practical way onward since the North Sumatra network does not link to the rest of the island. For the outbound journey see Medan to Rantau Prapat.