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Japan reluctant to join high-speed rail project, citing need to protect its ‘brand’
Japan appears less than keen to join a project to extend the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail (HSR) link to Surabaya, East Java, citing concerns about technical compatibility and possible damage to the “brand” of Japan.
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A section of the under-construction Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway is seen in Padalarang, West Java, on March 7, 2023. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
Japan appears less than keen to join a project to extend the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail (HSR) link to Surabaya, East Java, citing concerns about technical compatibility and possible damage to the “brand” of Japan.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, Japan’s cabinet secretary for public affairs, Noriuki Shitaka, stated that mixing technologies from different countries would complicate the project.
“If you mix two technologies, I don't know whether it will work well or not. For example, we cannot be responsible for Chinese high-speed rail projects, especially if there is a problem. If we work together, there is such a possibility,” said Shitaka.
Shitaka attributed this to the fact that Japan had no knowledge of either the train’s composition or the rail system and therefore would be careful, lest getting involved damaged “the Japan brand”.
The main phase of the US$7.3 billion project to connect Jakarta with the West Java capital of Bandung, construction work on which began in January 2016, is nearing completion.
The initial plan was only to connect those two cities, before President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered to extend it to Surabaya in 2020, the idea being that a longer distance would make the infrastructure project that has experienced repeated budget overruns “more economical”.
