The government is considering including Japan in Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), an Indonesia-China consortium to establish the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, as Indonesia looks for to accelerate and expand the national tactical project, a senior minister has actually said.
Japan, which was outbid by China for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project, is currently dealing with the Indonesian federal government to develop a medium-speed line to link Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java.
Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto stated that the consideration came from a demand by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as the government evaluated the prolonged delays and budget overruns in the advancement of the Jakarta-Bandung train.
” Since of that– to be more economical– President Jokowi has actually advised that the project not stop at Bandung but be extended to Surabaya. Also, [he asked to] add Japan to the consortium,” stated Airlangga on Friday in an online press briefing after a limited Cabinet conference..
Policymakers think the addition of Japan would accelerate the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train job, while likewise helping the consortium extend the project to reach Surabaya via the Southern Java line.
Airlangga said that the idea to include Japan in the consortium would initially be examined by the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry.
The construction of the high-speed railway has actually faltered because of various technical and monetary challenges, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
KCIC initially intended to finish the job and begin operation by June 2021, a two-year delay from its initial target. With the present health crisis, the job’s completion is expected to be more postponed to the 2nd half of2021
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train job is among the government’s national strategic tasks (PSN) in the transportation sector and is anticipated to need a total investment of US$ 6.07 billion.
The train job will serve 4 primary stations: Halim in Jakarta, Karawang in West Java and Walini and Tegaluar in Bandung regency. The trains will take a trip at 350 kilometers per hour, cutting the travel time between Jakarta and Bandung to 45 minutes from the existing three-hour train journey.
In September of last year, the Transport Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a contract on the summary record of the Java North Line Upgrading Job, laying out the two nations’ collaboration to establish the Jakarta-Surabaya railway.
