Indonesia to operate Southeast Asia’s first high-speed train in October

JAKARTA (Vietnam News/ANN): Indonesia’s high-speed rail service, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, will begin commercial operation from October after repeated delays.

As reported by Nikkei Asia, the Indonesian-Chinese consortium Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) has set October as the new opening date after pushing back the previous timeline of August. KCIC will use the additional time to conduct further testing to ensure safety.

President Joko Widodo said last week that he hoped to participate in the September trials of the Jakarta Bandung high-speed rail. He pointed out that as soon as everything is ready, the railway will start operating.

A test launch is planned for September and October, when nearby residents can ride free of charge.

The high-speed rail is an approximately 140 km connection linking Jakarta with the city of Bandung in the West Java province. The service will have a maximum operating speed of approximately 350 km per hour, and the entire line can be traveled in just 36 minutes.

Functional tests have been carried out since May, with a constant increase in speed. The train reportedly traveled as fast at 385 km per hour, the highest speed technically feasible. – Vietnam News/ANN