Indonesia’s Chinese-funded railway line starts test runs

Name: Is Indonesia’s China-made railway on track to launch? Jakarta says it’s ‘under control’
Uploaded: 2023-09-07T11:45:09.000Z
Duration: 4 min 1 s
Description: Is Indonesia’s China-made railway on track to launch? Jakarta says it’s ‘under control’

The route linking Jakarta to Bandung is offering free rides every day before it starts regular operations next month

Trains have a top speed of 350km/h, making it the fastest rail link in Southeast Asia

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The trains have a top speed of 350km/h, Photo: Xinhua

Cyril Ip

Published: 7:45pm, 7 Sep 2023

A Chinese-funded high-speed railway line in Indonesia started test runs on Thursday ahead of its commercial launch next month.

The train will cut the travel time for the 142km (88-mile) journey between the capital Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java province, from three and a half hours to 40 minutes.

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Is Indonesia’s China-made railway on track to launch? Jakarta says it’s ‘under control’

Eight passenger trains are scheduled to run between Halim Station in Jakarta and Dekalur Station in Bandung every day this month, offering free rides for passengers before the service opens for real next month.

Construction on the line began in 2015 and it was originally expected to launch in 2019, but the project was delayed first by land procurement issues and then by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The cost of the project also increased from the initial budget of 66.7 trillion rupiah (US$4.3 billion) to 113 trillion rupiah.

On Wednesday Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Indonesian investment minister Luhut Pandjaitan took a test ride along a 41km section of the line between Jakarta and Karawang.