High-speed rail transit development in Indonesia, lesson learned from developing countries

Abstract

The plan by Indonesian government to build a HSR has previously existed for years. The Japanese and Chinese governments have expressed interest in the project, and both have the technical capability to build a railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung. This project was awarded to China because they provided soft loans for the project, while Japan required the Indonesian government to provide all of the funds necessary to complete the entire project. The proposed railway lines construction would reduce travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from approximately three hours to just 45 minutes. The HSR will be integrated with developments along its corridor by transit-oriented developments as part of the project. Because of Jakarta’s wide population and the number of pairs of destinations that the HSR would link, the line would draw about 10 million passengers per year in its first year of operating. According to passenger traffic data collected from Europe and Asia, the first HSR line built in Indonesia is expected to attract significant demand.