founding of the Vereeniging van Nederlandsch-Indian Spoorentramwegmaatschappijen (VNISTM) on 16 June 1917. World War II As of 10 May 1940, the management and supervisory board of Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij, based in the Netherlands, was no longer entitled to function outside the jurisdiction of occupied territory according to the London-based Law Enforcement Committee in Wartime (Commissie voor Rechtsverkeer in Oorlogstijd, CORVO). During the Japanese occupation and the subsequent Indonesian independence struggle, the tram suffered considerable damage. Most of the staff was interned by the Japanese during 1942, so by the end of 1942 nearly all European employees and their families were held in Japanese prisons or detention camps. The so-called Madoera Affair was the arrest in August 1942 and the execution in February 1944 of 62 executives of the Madurese salt extraction plants and the Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. In August 1942, a reported as "lost" freight car Madoera Stoomtram Maatschappij, which was loaded with ammunition intended for the Royal Dutch Indian Army, was found by a Japanese patrol. This car was found in the yard of . Due to a leak, the Japanese military police Kempeitai obtained a list of names of the demolition command, which had seriously damaged important facilities on the island shortly before the occupation of the island. The Kempeitai also learned of a plan of the chemists from the salt extraction plants to make explosives by chemically processing salt. Therefore, the Japanese suspected that there were radio links with allies. Under suspicion of illegal anti-Japanese activities, the entire management of these companies was arrested and later executed. The arrested administrative staff remained interned. The board was subordinated to the main representative in Dutch India. After the capitulation in 1942, the trams was immediately taken over by the Japanese army leadership. Soon after, the management also taken over by the Japanese, who brought the state railways, the private railways and trams and the road traffic under a central Japanese management in Bandoeng. Post-war period Following the return of the Dutch-Indonesian Government under Lieutenant-General Van Mook, the then Director of Transport, Public Works and Water Management informed the company representatives that the repair and reuse of the railway system should be centrally located and regulated. The private railway and tram companies would therefore be temporarily taken over by the government. To this end, the Co-operative Enterprise Regulation