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First batch of Chinese-made high-speed trains arrives in Jakarta
Billed the first export case of a Chinese bullet train system, the project to connect the Indonesian capital and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung was about 80 percent completed in late August and commercial operations are expected to start in June next year.
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A Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail train is seen at West Kowloon Terminus on the first day of the rail service in Hong Kong on September 23, 2018. A new high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and mainland China launched on September 23, a multi-billion dollar project that critics say gives away part of the city's territory to an increasingly assertive Beijing.
(AFP/Tyrone Siu)
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cargo of eight Chinese-made high-speed train cars has arrived at a Jakarta port marking the first batch of rolling stock for Indonesia's first high-speed railway network being built with Chinese technology.
Billed the first export case of a Chinese bullet train system, the project to connect the Indonesian capital and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung was about 80 percent completed in late August and commercial operations are expected to start in June next year.
After arriving at the port in North Jakarta late Thursday from the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, the cargo, including an inspection train set, was unloaded Friday afternoon. The cars form part of the 11 sets of trains set to be shipped to Indonesia by the end of March.
The trains are designed to run on the 142-kilometer line at maximum speeds of 350 kilometers per hour, cutting the travel time to about 40 minutes from the roughly 3 hours currently required.
Construction began in 2016 and was initially expected to be completed in 2019, but the project ran into problems mostly over land acquisition, delaying its completion several times.
Initially, both China and Japan were in competition for the project with Japan insisting on a government guarantee from the Indonesian side.
Indonesia picked China in 2015 after China agreed to cooperate under a business-to-business contract without financing from the state or a government guarantee.
Undertaken by Indonesian-Chinese consortium PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China, the high-speed rail project was originally expected to cost around $6 billion, but the cost has ballooned to around $8 billion after the delays.
In order to complete the project, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo reneged last year on the government's earlier promise not to use the state budget to finance it, drawing criticism from the public.
In early August, the House of Representatives approved an additional Rp 4.1 trillion (about $275 million) as state capital injection to complete the project.
Despite connecting Jakarta and Bandung, many of the stations are located away from city centers. Two stations in Bandung are actually located in the suburbs of the city, about 30 to 45 minutes away from the city center by car.
