The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project, a three way partnership between China and Indonesia and the primary of its kind in Southeast Asia, is prepared for construction, based on China Railway Corp (CRC).
In an announcement last Friday (June 29), the corporate said that as of June, significant progress had been made on 22 key construction sites.
Licensing and financing issues for the project were step by step resolved, and land acquisition work achieved a breakthrough.
CRC, the world’s largest rail operator, said the design of the 142-kilometer railway linking Indonesia’s capital Jakarta with West Java’s capital Bandung relies on China’s rail technology standards – that are secure, reliable, advanced and long-tested – and fully take note of local weather and geological conditions, traditions and culture, in addition to lifestyle.
The maximum design speed of trains on the four-stop line will likely be 350 km/h, and travel times between Jakarta and Bandung are expected to be reduced from greater than three hours on the present line to about 40 minutes on high-speed rail. railway line.
This is the primary project wherein Chinese high-speed rail standards, technologies and equipment were used on a foreign line. It will likely be implemented by a Chinese-Indonesian consortium of firms – Kereta Cepat Indonesia China and will likely be financed mainly by loans from the China Development Bank.
According to China Railway Corp, the road won’t only provide convenient and comfy travel for residents and ease travel difficulties between the 2 major cities, but can even help attract investment and boost business development and tourism along it.
The project is predicted to spice up the event of Indonesia’s construction equipment and materials industry and create more employment opportunities, the CRC said.
There are currently over 2,000 local staff working on the project and this number is predicted to extend. CRC also said it should proceed to coach local staff and support Indonesia’s efforts to develop its own high-speed rail specialists.
In October 2015, China and Indonesia signed an agreement to determine a three way partnership to construct and operate the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway. The ceremony of laying the inspiration stone for the road took place in January 2016.
However, local media report that construction has been postponed for various reasons, from financing to land purchase.
China currently operates a high-speed rail network of over 25,000 km, accounting for over 60% of all high-speed rail on this planet. According to the Ministry of Transport, by the top of 2020, China will own at the least 30,000 km of high-speed rail lines.
According to the World Bank, China’s high-speed rail network was built at a value of at most two-thirds that of other countries.
Source: Times of the Strait
