Indonesia has launched Southeast Asia’s first-ever bullet train, a high-speed rail line that connects two of its largest cities.
The $7.3 billion project, part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and largely funded by Chinese state-owned firms, opened to the public on Monday following a series of delays and setbacks.
Initially scheduled for launch on October 1, a grand inauguration ceremony was held at the Halim railway station in Jakarta on Monday, attended by President Joko Widodo, the First Lady Iriana and several cabinet ministers.
“The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train is the first high-speed train in Indonesia, and the first in Southeast Asia, with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour,” Widodo said to applause from the crowd before sounding a red alarm to signal the beginning of official service.
The new bullet train will travel between the Halim railway station in East Jakarta and West Bandung’s Padalarang railway station in West Java, Indonesia’s second-largest city and a major arts and culture hub.
The 86-mile (138-kilometer) high-speed rail line, officially named WHOOSH – which stands for “time-saving, optimal operation, reliable system” in Indonesian – runs on electricity with no direct carbon emissions and travels at a speed of roughly 217 miles per hour – cutting travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to under less than an hour, officials say.
Overseen by the joint state venture PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (PT KCIC), the railway is well connected to local public transport systems. The trains, modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate, are equipped with a safety system that can respond to earthquakes, floods, and other emergency conditions.
There are talks to extend the high-speed line to Surabaya – a major port and capital of East Java Province, PT KCIC director Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi told Chinese state media outlets at a ceremony earlier in September.
Stops at other major cities like Semarang and Yogyakarta, the gateway to Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world – are also being planned, Dwiyana said.
According to information released by PT KCIC, the railway features eight cars – all equipped with Wi-Fi and USB charging points – and seats 601 passengers.
Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has been actively and openly courting investment from China, its largest trade and investment partner.