Xi to test ride Indonesia’s new high-speed train

Wednesday, 05 Oct 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping may be one of the first passengers to ride South-East Asia’s first high-speed rail (HSR) when the Jakarta-Bandung line begins operations in November.

President Joko Widodo will invite his Chinese counterpart to ride on the China-made bullet train that will connect the capital Jakarta to the West Java capital after the G20 summit in Bali on Nov 15 to 16, Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told The Straits Times.

Construction on the 142km rail began in 2016, and it is expected to begin serving the public in November 2023. Running at speeds of over 200kph, it will cut a 2½-hour journey by car to just 45 minutes.

However, the train will take a more leisurely pace of 60kph when Xi and Joko ride a 15km stretch in Bandung, between Padalarang and Tegalluar.

“We will not yet run on the full speed – we have not reached that stage yet in the development,” Budi said.

The HSR project connecting Indonesia’s two major cities is being developed by KCIC, a joint venture between Indonesian and Chinese state-owned companies.

Flare-ups in 2016 between Jakarta and Beijing over Chinese fishing ships entering Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around the Natuna islands had made relations awkward, but the two countries always ensured economic cooperation continued.

They are set to discuss plans to extend the HSR network eastward beyond Bandung, to the country’s second-biggest city of Surabaya, passing through Purwokerto, Yogyakarta, Solo and Madiun en route.

“We have the concept for the extension ready,” Budi said, adding that the 790km between Jakarta and Surabaya will take less than four hours by HSR, compared to a 10-hour drive currently.

.........