Padang Halaban station passenger numbers rise 20% as KAI expands its strategic role

Padang Halaban station served 11,365 passengers in the first seven months of 2026, up 20% from the 9,450 recorded during the same period last year.

Anwar Yuli Prastyo, public relations manager for PT Kereta Api Indonesia’s North Sumatra division, said the station has strengthened its role as a mobility hub and an economic link in Labuhanbatu Utara. The station began operating in 1937, when the Kisaran-Rantauprapat railway was completed.

Its original purpose centered on plantation commodities, particularly palm oil and rubber. It still handles crude palm oil and palm kernel oil through a branch line to PT SMART’s palm oil mill. Passenger demand, however, has gradually changed the station’s role.

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Padang Halaban station is clear proof of how railways can transform from a means of transporting plantation products

Six daily Sribilah Utama train services stop at Padang Halaban, providing transport for local residents and linking the plantation area with Rantauprapat, Kisaran, Tebing Tinggi and Medan. The station also offers access to natural attractions in Labuhanbatu Utara.

One nearby site, known as Lorong Negeri or Padang Halaban View, features tracks covered by mature trees that form a green tunnel. The branch line is not currently operating for CPO shipments, although the last recorded freight service ran in 2025. Residents now use the location as a photography destination.

KAI’s North Sumatra division said it continues to see potential for renewed freight activity as services and commodity-shipping needs develop.

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While waiting for that line to be used again to transport CPO from the mill to the station, the location is now widely used by the public as a photography destination.