The history of lawang sewu is directly linked to the history of the Indonesia railway system, as this building was specifically constructed to become the Head Office of the Nederlansch Indische Spoorweg develop a railway system, as this building was specifically Maatschappij (NIS). After India, Indonesia was the second country in Asia to their railway networks at a later time. After the abolition of the "Forced Labor System" of 1830-1850, the agricultural yields on Java were no longer harvested simply to fulfill the needs of the locals, but were also marketed internationally. As such, it was deemed necessary to developed a transportation facility that could transport the yields from the faemlands to the harbors, as the existing Jalan Raya Pos (Grote Postweg Anyer Naar Panarukan) were considered to be inadequate to meet this purpose, hence, the initiative to develop a network of railways.