Indonesian President Joko Widodo Does Final Site Inspection of New Chinese-built High Speed Railway

Indonesian President Joko Widido during a site inspection of a new Chinese-built high speed railway.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo got his first look at Southeast Asia’s only high-speed railway that will cut travel times between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to just 40 minutes.

The 142km railway, now 90% complete, is a big gamble for the Indonesian government. There are questions whether it will be able to service its share of the railway’s $7.8 billion price tag. Given the difficulties that both Laos and Kenya are having in repaying their Chinese railway loans, there’s good reason to be concerned.

The train will be operated by a Sino-Indonesian joint venture that is 60% owned by Indonesia and 40% by China. 

The Indonesian government is planning for the new train to open just before next month’s G20 leaders’ summit that will take place in Bali.

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