The government has finally decided to decide on Japan as a partner within the revitalization of the railway line connecting Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java.
“We decided to make use of [the scheme] “with Japan,” Maritime Affairs Coordination Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said, as quoted by kontan.co.id on Sunday, adding that a preliminary feasibility study for the project is predicted to start in May.
“There will likely be joint studies with Japan and we hope that [the construction] will likely be accomplished within the fourth quarter of 2019,” Luhut said.
Maritime Affairs Coordination Office, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Coordination Ridwan Djamaludin said the federal government will consider two construction plans: eliminating level crossings or constructing elevated railways. There are about 988 level crossings between the 2 cities.
“It could also be a combination of both factors, depending on conditions on the ground,” he said.
The aim of the project is to extend the speed of the railway connecting each cities from roughly 90 km/h to 160 km/h.
The government can also be considering the technology that can power the trains: diesel, which is able to cost 30 trillion rupees ($2.2 billion), or electricity, which is able to cost 80 trillion rupees.
Japan previously lost a high-speed rail line connecting Jakarta and Bandung in West Java to China.
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This article was first published in The Jakarta Post on March 28, 2017.
