I

am a resident of Jakarta concerned about the development of infrastructure in Indonesia, particularly the plan to develop the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway.

I am fond of high-speed railways, but in my opinion, we needn'€™t rush to build the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway this decade.

It'€™s too expensive and the maintenance is too complicated for Indonesian standards, and we already have plenty of adequate modes of transportation to connect these two adjacent cities.

We need to improve our railway system for our own benefit and sustainability, but should avoid drastic measures. We can look to the Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh railway network as a good model.

It'€™s modern, clean and fast (160 kph) enough for us, and more importantly it'€™s much cheaper than high-speed rail. Jakarta to Bandung would be only 60 minutes with this model.

The route that needs a high-speed rail link is actually not Jakarta-Bandung, but the much longer and more important Jakarta-Surabaya route.

The main purpose of high-speed train is filling the gap between plane and train, not merely as a high-tech toy with low ridership.

Hopefully our dear officials will consider this suggestion.

Calvin Ho
Jakarta