The world’s fourth most populous country with 275 million inhabitants will join the select “club” of states with high-speed trains on October 1. This is Indonesia, which built a 142-kilometer line between the cities of Jakarta and Bandung at a cost of $8 billion with significant support from China.
Test trains covered 142 km between the capital Jakarta (10 million inhabitants) and Bandung (2.5 million) in 30 minutes, and with passengers – 40 minutes. The maximum speed is 350 km/h. There will be three classes of travel, and the most expensive tickets cost more than $20.
The prospect of making a profit from the trains was highly controversial, with many saying it was impossible, especially with such high costs.
The first high-speed trains will arrive in Indonesia in autumn 2022, marking the first time high-speed trains produced in China have reached their export destination. The total cost was not small: 8 billion dollars for 142 km, but the travel time between Jakarta and Bandung will soon be just 36 minutes, compared to more than 195 minutes now. To begin with, it will be 40 minutes.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with 275 million inhabitants. The rail network is not very developed, and the fastest sections have an average speed of 80 km/h.
Trains now run over 3 hours 15 minutes for the 173 km between Jakarta and Bandung. On the new, more direct and shorter high-speed railway, it will be 142 km, and the trip will last at least 40 minutes, depending on the number of stops.
The first high-speed line in Indonesia was built by a consortium 60% owned by domestic companies and 40% by Chinese companies. The project was financed by a loan from the China Development Bank.
The track was laid for the entire distance in March, 16 km out of 142 km pass through tunnels. The railway is built according to Chinese standards, and the maximum possible speed is 350 km/h. Although at first it will definitely be smaller for safety reasons.
11 electric trains with 600 seats each were delivered by the Chinese company CRRC Qingdao Sifang. The contract for the trains was signed in April 2017 for $370 million.
The total cost of this railway is more than 8 billion dollars, although initial estimates indicated 6 billion dollars.
Sources: Nikkei Asia, Radio Free Asia
Source: Hot News
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