Karawang. The government’s plan to use the
Shinkansen bullet train to link Jakarta and Bandung in the next five
years will shorten travel time for the 150-kilometer route between the
two cities from around three hours to only 37 minutes.
Setya Dharma, the head of the transportation office in Karawang
district, West Java, through which the train line will run, welcomed the
plan by the Transportation Ministry.
“We have met several times with the Transportation Ministry over the bullet train project,” Setya said in Karawang.
The project will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA), which provides technical assistance to developing
countries.
According to the plans, the project will commence in 2016 and it is expected to become operational by 2019 or 2020.
Setya said the bullet train, which can reach a speed of up to 300
kilometers an hour, will benefit the people of Karawang who work in
Bandung or Jakarta, who will be able to look forward to cutting down
their commute time.
“Aside from that,” Setya continued, “it will also reduce traffic
congestion, which often occurs at several locations throughout
Karawang.”
The government also plans to use a bullet train for the Rp 18
trillion ($1.51 billion) rail line between Soekarno-Hatta and Halim
Perdanakusuma airports in Jakarta.
According to Bambang Susantono, the deputy minister of
transportation, the government was in the process of offering the
project to Japanese investors.
Bambang said the government was offering an open cooperation scheme between the government and the private sector.
“We have approved the project; we hope the Japanese government will
be interested in the public-private partnership program. And the
feasibility study is still ongoing,” he said.
Hanggoro Budi Wiryawan, the Transportation Ministry’s director
general for rail transport, said that with 62 million passengers passing
through Soekarno-Hatta last year, it was important to improve access to
the airport.
“We see the express line as a potential mode of transportation,”
Hanggoro said. “We are planning to develop it in 2015 and finish by
2017.”
The Transportation Ministry has prepared two alternatives for the
train operation at Soekarno-Hatta: a commuter line run by state railway
operator KAI, or an express line. The project is expected to be tendered
out soon.
The express line will link Halim Perdanakusuma in East Jakarta to
Soekarno-Hatta in Tangerang, west of the capital, through a network of
five stations over 34 kilometers, with trains traveling at 100
kilometers an hour on average.
Hanggoro called on the government to support the project both in infrastructure development and in land acquisition.
“The early stage of the project is scheduled to start in July 2014,” he said.
Deputy minister Ryuji Masuno of Japan’s Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Tourism responded positively to the Indonesian
government’s presentation of the airport train project and will be
further discussing the PPP scheme.
“The public-private partnership scheme is in line with the Japanese
government’s policy that focuses on project cooperations with developing
countries, including Indonesia,” Masuno said.
By Jakarta Globe on 10:00 am Jul 02, 2014
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