The government has agreed to provide a legal guarantee for the country's first high-speed railway project, assuring that the project will not be affected by regulatory changes and that the government will not unilaterally cancel the concession agreement.

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the concession period would be set depending on the feasibility study. If the concession is granted, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) may pocket rights to operate the railway for 50 years since its first operation.

"If construction is delayed, the concession [period] will abide by the agreement [not affected]," he said at the press conference in the State Palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Therefore, he urged KCIC to submit the revised feasibility study in order to win the concession. The necessity for a revision rested mainly on the technical and financial assessment, which had to be reviewed by a third party.

Jonan reiterated that there was no financial guarantee provided despite the project'€™s status as one of the government'€™s priorities.

The concession period is among nine requirements that KCIC must meet as the project developer and operator to secure a business permit. KCIC is expected to build four stations between Jakarta and Bandung for the railway, at Halim, Karawang, Walini and Tegalluar.

Previously, Jonan said, KCIC wanted the area to be exclusive with no other railway operating there. However, he denied the request, but said the government would only allow other stations to be located far away.

"We will not give exclusive rights for them," he said.

In terms of building permits, Jonan also obliged KCIC to revise technical documents. Currently, KCIC has only lodged technical documents for the first five kilometers of the 142.3-km railway. "[We need] at least, [documents] for 35 km, or one-third of total railway," he added.

KCIC president director Hanggoro Budi Wiryawan stated the company was committed to fulfilling the requirements. The feasibility study, he said, was still being reviewed by a consultant.

"One thing to be noted is potential passengers. There are optimistic, moderate and pessimistic scenarios. We will review this and hopefully immediately submit it to the Transportation Ministry," he said.

According to a previous study, passengers on the high-speed train will number about 60,000 per day. In the revised feasibility study, Hanggoro said, the predicted number of passengers was slashed to about 28,000-30,000 per day. (ags)

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