Jakarta-Bandung Travel to be Faster by 2021

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

The first girder of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project was installed at Kilometer Marker 26 in Cikarang Utama, Bekasi, West Java (30/9/2019). The girder weighs 900 tons. Of the 142.3-kilometer route, about 80 km are elevated. A total of 13 tunnels are to have a combined length of 16.9 km along the railway.

BEKASI, KOMPAS — The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project has entered the girder installation stage to build the elevated track. The railway construction is targeted for completion by the end of 2020, and the high-speed train is expected to start operating in 2021.

"The physical [infrastructure] is targeted for completion by the end of 2020, then the commissioning of the train. So, the operation is planned for 2021. By the end of this year, we are targeting 50 percent completion of construction," said State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Rini Soemarno on Monday (30/9/2019) in Bekasi, West Java, during the installation ceremony for the first girder of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway.

The ceremony was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry/BPN land procurement director general Arie Yuriwin, PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI) president commissioner Bintang Perbowo, PT PSBI president director Natal Argawan Pardede and PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) president director Chandra Dwiputra.

According to Rini, the girder – a horizontal support beam between two pillars – is an innovative part of the project. About 80 km of 142.3-kilometer high-speed railway is to be elevated rails. Girder is

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno (fourth left, foreground) poses with relevant officials for a photograph beside a model of a high-speed train before inaugurating the installation of the first girder of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project at Kilometer Marker 26 in Cikarang Utama, Bekasi, West Java (30/9/2019). The girders being installed are very heavy, weighing 900 tons each. Of the 142.3-kilometer route, about 80 km are elevated. Girders are horizontal supports between two pillars.

The elevated rail requires 2,000 girders. Three girder manufacturing facilities were built to meet the project’s needs, including one in West Cikarang.

In May, construction on the 608-meter Walini tunnel in Bandung regency was finished. The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway is to have a total of 13 tunnels with a combined length of 16.9 km.

Transfer of Technology

State-owned PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk manufactured the precast piles, designed to withstand earthquakes, to support the girders.

Rini added that the Indonesia-China cooperation involved a transfer of technology to Indonesia, while Indonesian mechanics and technicians would be sent to China to learn the skills need for operating the high-speed train.

"This will be the first high-speed train in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia should be proud. We can prove that Indonesia is capable. We can learn from those with more capabilities. Therefore, cooperation is important and it must be mutually beneficial," she said.

Xiao Qian said that in his nearly two-year tenure as the ambassador to Indonesia, he had visited 14 sites for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project and witnessed speedy work on its construction.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

A model of a high-speed train was displayed at the inauguration ceremony for the installation of the first girder of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project at Kilometer Marker 26 in Cikarang Utama, Bekasi, West Java (30/9/2019).

"This is a friendship project that has a profound influence. Today is an important step for further development," said Xiao.

Chandra said that 34.89 percent of the project was complete, while 99 percent of the land needed for the project had been acquired.

He said that construction on the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway was carried out simultaneously, and that construction will soon break ground on the 1.8 km-long Halim tunnel beneath the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road.

Chandra added that KCIC had started recruiting employees to manage and operate the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, who would be sent to China to learn how to operate a high-speed train.

"PT KCIC will connect the high-speed train with other modes of transportation, such as with the BRT [bus rapid transit] and the LRT [light rail transit] in Halim, and then the Bandung City train station in Bandung. It is hoped that this will change the transportation culture from private vehicles to trains," he said.

Meanwhile, Arie Yuriwin said it was expected that all land for the railway project would be cleared by October.

The high-speed train service is designed to operate at a maximum 350 km per hour, meaning that the rail service can connect Jakarta and Bandung in less than an hour.

(NAD)

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno (left) points to the first installed girder of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway at Kilometer Marker 26 in Cikarang Utama, Bekasi, West Java (30/9/2019). The girder weighs 900 tons. Of the 142.3-kilometer route, about 80 km are elevated. A total of 13 tunnels are to have a combined length of 16.9 km along the railway.