High speed train in development could take passengers from Jakarta to Bandung in 30 minutes

Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil says the new Jakarta-Bandung train would use high-speed train technology from China.

The mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil, working together with the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Rini Soemarno, has been in talks to accelerate the development of a superfast train project that would connects the cities of Bandung and Jakarta.

Ridwan said that the bullet train would use technology from China (which actually has maglev trains faster than Japan’s famous Shinkansen) that would be able to take a passenger from a station in Cawang, Jakarta to Gedebage, Bandung, within a mere 30 minutes.

“The funding [for the project] would come from a consortium of national banks, I’m just helping the minister because this is her initiative,” Ridwan said as quoted by Kompas. 

The Bandung mayor also said the train’s speed could reach 300 kilometers per hour. He said he hoped it would cause tourists from Jakarta to stop bringing their cars into his city and causing heavy traffic every weekend.

“The [economic development] between Bandung and Jakarta is limited, it cannot increase unless there is an increase in accessibility and time. But in the future people won’t have to drive back and forth to Bandung, they can just catch the train. Compared to four hours what is 30 minutes?” Ridwan said.

The target, Ridwan said, is for the railway infrastructure development projects to begin construction in 2016.