Mutiara Utara train (North Pearl train) Mutiara (Pearl) was a passenger train service owned by the National Railway Corporation (PNKA) that once served the Surabaya–Jakarta route via Semarang Tawarang. The train was officially launched 26 September 1971. Initially, it featured a Class I train service, featuring only the first-class carriages and a dining car. In an advertisement published in Berita Buana (Buana News) on 25 September 1971, PNKA offered air conditioning and audio entertainment, reclining seats, and breakfast, dinner, and snacks. Later, the name of this train was changed to "Mutiara Utara" (in English, "North Pearl") due to the emergence of the Mutiara Selatan train. In the mid-1980s, Mutiara Utara was changed to class I and II. On 9 June 1990, the then Railways Service Corporation LLC (PJKA) inaugurated the first true executive class passenger coaches (at that time a class above the existing class I), with the first going to the Bima and Mutiara Utara. Anwar Suprijadi, who was then the Operational Director of PJKA, targeted a revenue of Rp6 billion from executive class ticket sales. On 11 March 1992, Perumka changed the format of the executive train class, to Executive-A and Executive-B, which was later simplified to simply "Executive." Mutiara Utara was briefly removed when Perumka launched the Suryajaya in 1994. However, Mutiara Utara was reinstated by Perumka. The Mutiara Utara service didn't last long, ending in October 1995 and was replaced by the Sembrani with the Satwa (animal) Executive class.
Sembrani train The Sembrani train made its official first public trip on 16 October 1995, by the
Railways Public Corporation LLC (Perumka) as an upgrade and development of the previously operating Mutiara Utara. At the beginning of its operation, the Head of the Commercial Section of Perumka Operational Area VIII Surabaya targeted a daily passenger capacity of 4,000. In the 2000s, this train had a bad reputation among the riding public due to the uncomfortable passenger seats on some coaches manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s as part of its rake. To improve this train's image, one train set underwent a refurbishment at the Manggarai Railway Center, which began operating in 2010 under the name "Sembrani New Image." As of 2016, the Sembrani train operated using a series of executive trains made by PT INKA, released in 2016. As of mid-November 2019 before the implementation of the train travel chart (Gapeka 2019) effect on 1 December 2019, the Sembrani train (along with the Gumarang train) was taken over operational ownership to Operational Area VIII Surabaya from Operational Area I Jakarta along with the train set was transferred to the Surabaya Pasarturi Train Depot (SBI), which was caused by 2 new trains that would arrive at Gapeka 2019, namely Dharmawangsa train (PSE-SBI) and Anjasmoro train (PSE-JG) as well as the extension of three train services from Operation Area II Bandung namely
Argo Wilis (GMR-BD-SGU), Mutiara Selatan (South Pearl) train (GMR-BD-ML) and
Malabar (ML-BD-PSE) as of 1 December 2019. Since 1 December 2019, Sembrani train have added a 26-seat
Luxury class train service which was previously used by
Taksaka. Sembrani train began serving passengers at Ngrombo beginning on 20 January 2020. On 28 September 2022, The speed of the Sembrani train (except for the Additional Sembrani) was upgraded to 120 km/hour (75 mph) from the original 105–110 km/h (65-68 mph). Sembrani trains added stops at Cikarang Station starting 1 February 2022, and during the 2023 Eid al-Fitr holiday period, the speed was also increased to 120 km/h (75 mph). On 1 June 2023, following the enactment of new train travel chart 2023, the Sembrani train added a morning service with train numbers 61–62, the successor to the "Sembrani Additional Train" that departs on a morning schedule from Surabaya Pasarturi and Gambir. This train was a "trial run" of morning passenger train service during the Eid al-Fitr 1444 H homecoming and return journeys. In connection with the change of the Argo Bromo Anggrek train series to a new generation executive, starting 29 March 2024, the Sembrani train will began using legacy coaches from the first generation stainless steel train sets manufactured by INKA Limited. On 1 June 2025, the Sembrani train (for 40 and 41) added a
Luxury Sleeper class coach (a legacy of the
Argo Bromo Anggrek) which will also replace the
Luxury class Generation 2 coach as the Impact of the Argo Bromo Anggrek's adoption of the
compartment suite coach in 2024. This version of the Sembrani therefore is now considered a de facto night train, the first non-Argo branded overnight and sleeper train service in the KAI network. ==List of stations==