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Indonesia Expected to Start Construction of Jakarta - Surabaya Fast Train in 2020

Indonesia Expected to Start Construction of Jakarta - Surabaya Fast Train in 2020
illustration © flipboard.com

Indonesia and Japan signed a deal Tuesday on an outline of a medium-speed train project linking the Southeast Asian country's capital Jakarta and its second-largest city Surabaya.

After two years of negotiations, the two countries agreed to use a narrow gauge railway track, instead of a standard gauge, to better adapt to land characteristics in dense and multi-networked areas on Java island.

"When the project is completed, Java will become (like) a big city," Indonesian Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said in a speech after the signing of the deal.

"This is a strategic national project that will provide a big jump to our train services," Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said in another speech.

The project will double the current speed of the existing train from between 80 and 90 kilometres per hour to 160 kph, or cutting the travel time by 3.5 hours from 9 hours to 5.5 hours.

When completed, the route will serve 54 trips, each carrying 900 passengers, a day, linking the two cities.

The project will be split into two phases, with the first between Jakarta and the Central Java provincial capital Semarang and the second between Semarang and Surabaya, capital of East Java province, covering distances of 436 km and 284 km, respectively.

In an interview with Kyodo News a couple months ago, President Joko Widodo expected construction of the railway to start next year.

Indonesia's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology has predicted that 12.4 percent of airline passengers between the two cities, which totaled around 8 million last year, will shift to the trains.

Last year, a "political decision" was made by the government to have only Indonesian and Japanese companies participate in the tender to build the railway network.

Indonesia has been leaning toward choosing Japan for the project in an apparent effort to ease Tokyo's disappointment at losing to China in 2015 in bidding to construct a high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung.

From Bangkok Post

Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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