Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
The first car of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train is seen on the platform during a week-long public test period at Halim Station in Jakarta on September 17, 2023.
CNN –
Indonesia is launching Southeast Asia’s first bullet train on Sunday, a high-speed line that will connect two of the country’s largest cities.
The $7.3 billion project is part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and is largely financed by Chinese state-owned companies. After a series of delays and setbacks, it opened to the public on Sunday.
The train will run between the capital Jakarta and Bandung in West Java, Indonesia’s second largest city and a major arts and cultural center.
The 86-mile (138-kilometer) high-speed line, officially named WHOOSH – which stands for “time saving, optimal operation, reliable system” in Indonesian – is powered by electricity with no direct CO2 emissions and reaches a speed of about 10 km 217 miles per hour – cutting travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to less than an hour, officials say.
Managed by the state-owned joint venture PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (PT KCIC), the train runs between Halim Station in East Jakarta and Padalarang Station in West Bandung and is well connected to public transport systems.
The trains, adapted to Indonesia’s tropical climate, are equipped with a safety system that can respond to earthquakes, floods and other emergencies, officials added.
There are discussions about extending the high-speed rail line to Surabaya – a key port and the capital of East Java province, PT KCIC director Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi told Chinese state media at a ceremony in early September.
Stops in other major cities such as Semarang and Yogyakarta, the gateway to Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world – are also planned, Dwiyana said.
According to PT KCIC, the train has eight carriages – all equipped with Wi-Fi and USB charging stations – and can accommodate 601 passengers.
There will be three seating classes – first, second and VIP.
Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
Passengers sit at Halim Station in Jakarta.
Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is actively and openly courting investment from China, its largest trade and investment partner.
A high-profile meeting in July between Indonesian and Chinese leaders Joko Widodo and Xi Jinping unveiled a range of projects, including plans to build a multi-billion-dollar Chinese glass factory on Rempang Island in Indonesia’s Riau Islands archipelago as part of a new one The “eco-city” project sparked weeks of violent protests by indigenous islanders against the demolition of their villages.
Akbar Nugroho Gumay/AP
Indonesia’s outgoing President Joko Widodo rides the high-speed rail during a test drive in Jakarta.
Widodo and Chinese Premier Li Qiang were photographed test-driving the new high-speed line throughout September.
The train contract was first signed in 2015 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and construction began later that year.
It was originally scheduled to be completed in 2019, but there were several operational delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the costs of land acquisition and balloon ascent.
Dwiyana, director of PT KCIC, praised the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway as an “outstanding example of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and China.” It will not only improve Indonesia’s infrastructure but also “promote the development of Indonesia’s railway and manufacturing industries,” he said.