Jakarta - Bandung High Speed Railway

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https://archpaper.com/2019/11/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative/




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By Gunawan Kartapranata - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43926417

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A hic-up back in 2015.

Indonesia Cancels Plans for First High-Speed Train
Government axes planned link between Jakarta and Bandung, citing cost and short distance

By Ben Otto And I Made Sentana
Updated Sept. 4, 2015 8:12 am ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/indonesia-cancels-plans-for-first-high-speed-train-1441340797

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia has canceled plans for its first high-speed train, casting aside proposals from China and Japan after the two competed for months to secure a $5 billion deal in the Southeast Asian nation.

Sofyan Djalil, national planning minister, said Friday that the government had decided against a railway linking the capital, Jakarta, with the large city of Bandung because it involved government financing rather than outside investment, and because the approximately 150-kilometer (93-mile) route was deemed too short for a high-speed train.

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Three ministers said that instead, Indonesia would seek foreign partners to help build a slower train connecting the cities that could cost about 40% less than the high-speed project. State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said state companies would begin work on such a line this year and would invite foreign companies to participate.

President Joko Widodo, who made the final decision on the Bandung high-speed train, said the country would pursue both the slower railway, and, in reviving an oft-discussed idea, a bullet train from the capital to the country’s second-largest city, Surabaya, about 660 kilometers east of Jakarta.

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Seven Chinese companies involved in the bidding for the bullet train either declined immediate comment or didn’t respond to requests for a response on Friday, a national holiday in China.

The high-speed project was always controversial in Indonesia, which spans 18,000 islands and has pressing needs for other infrastructure involving roads, ports and electricity as well as rail. Critics dubbed it a vanity project of President Joko Widodo, who came to power nearly a year ago, and questioned the need for a bullet train capable of traveling 300-350 kilometers per hour that would make up to eight stops along a route of about 150 kilometers in length. Mr. Widodo courted both sides, working for better terms.

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Mr. Widodo hinted at the cancellation late Thursday by saying that if state money were used, the investment would be better spent on the large island of Sulawesi or in Kalimantan or Papua, regions on two other large islands. The president has been pushing for projects in Indonesia’s remote regions to cut soaring logistics costs and boost trade.

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Indonesia, China launch high-speed railway project
Updated: Jan 22,2016 7:23 AM     Xinhua

http://english.www.gov.cn/state_council/state_councilors/2016/01/22/content_281475276386702.htm

Indonesia’s first ever high-speed railway project kicked off on Jan 21 in Walini, West Java Province, marking a major achievement in railway cooperation between China and Indonesia.

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President Xi said in the message that the successful launch of the project not only set a new record in pragmatic cooperation between China and Indonesia, it will also become a new model for bilateral cooperation in various fields, particularly in infrastructure and production capacity.

On the same occasion, Joko Widodo said “This is a great project jointly pushed by Indonesian and Chinese governments,” and he expects further cooperation between Indonesia and China could be more intense.

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Chinese $5.5bn high-speed rail project held up in Indonesia
Ben Bland in Hong Kong JANUARY 28 2016

https://www.ft.com/content/6ae46e68-c596-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e

China’s $5.5bn high-speed rail project in Indonesia has been halted a week after its groundbreaking ceremony in a reminder of the difficulties Chinese companies can face in emerging markets.

Beijing thought it had pulled off a coup in October when it beat fierce competition from Japan to win the contract to build Indonesia’s first high-speed railway.

The Jakarta-Bandung link, China’s first such project in Southeast Asia, is seen as a test of the ability of Chinese companies to operate in a complex democracy. It is being closely watched by countries such as India, Malaysia and Singapore, which are considering the merits of Chinese high-speed rail.

Indonesia’s transport ministry said it had not yet signed off on the construction permits or the concession agreement because the Chinese-Indonesian consortium developing the project had not submitted the necessary documents.

One official complained to the local media that the authorities were unable to move faster because some of the documents were in Chinese and could not be read.

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Zhao Hong, an authority on China-Southeast Asia relations at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said Chinese state-owned enterprises used to bulldozing their way through objections at home will need a different approach in democracies such as Indonesia.

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https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/ISEAS_Perspective_2018_2@50.pdf

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Jakarta-Bandung high speed rail project poses big challenge for Jokowi
By SIWAGE DHARMA NEGARA, LEO SURYADINATA

Published 12 JANUARY, 2018
UPDATED 12 JANUARY, 2018

https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/jakarta-bandung-high-speed-rail-project-poses-big-challenge-jokowi

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed-rail project is part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ambition to upgrade Indonesia’s lagging infrastructure. The Indonesian leader has designated it a national strategic project, meaning that all government agencies are supposed to give it priority treatment, such as accelerating the issuance of permits.

If successful, the project will cut travel time between the two cities in western Java from about three hours by car to just 40 minutes. The US$5.5 billion (S$7.3 billion) project is funded mainly by a loan from China.

Controversies, however, have surrounded the project from the very beginning.

Much has been discussed about how Japan, the initial bidder, was outdone by China’s more attractive financing scheme that does not require any government guarantee.

Nevertheless, some argue that the scheme offered by China is misleading since Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises (SOE) have to eventually bear the cost of the project.

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The construction was to begin in August 2016 but has largely stalled.

According to project developer, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), as of September 2017, only around 55 per cent of the total 600-hectare land needed for the 142-kilometre railway project has been acquired.

The government had initially awarded PT KCIC a fixed concession period of 50 years starting from May 31, 2019. However, delays in project construction mean that both parties will need to consider moving the project completion date to 2020 or even later.

One issue that the Indonesians faced was the tough stance taken by the China Development Bank (CDB), designated by the Chinese government as the lender.

It initially took the stand that 100 per cent of the land must be legally procured before the loan agreement could be signed.

Moreover, it required the project to be included in the national spatial plan (Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah or RTRW) and the area designated for the railway route clearly specified.

Without this legal basis, local authorities could not procure some of the required areas. In April 2017, Mr Widodo finally signed a new government regulation including the project into the national spatial plan.

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It requires China’s loan in order to expedite project construction, but the new loan disbursement agreement is conditional on land acquisition and various legal frameworks being completed first at the local levels. In short, even though Mr Widodo has signed a national spatial plan, it has to be synchronised with related regional spatial plans.

Cautious as China already is about putting money into the infrastructure project too early, it may not be as interested in greater ownership of the project as it is in lending money and undertaking the construction.

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The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project will put Mr Widodo’s ability to accelerate infrastructure development in Indonesia to the test. Despite the many controversies that surround the project, the president seems to strongly believe that it will boost the economy along the railway route, especially through transit-oriented development.

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Chinese drilling machine to operate in Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway soon
News Desk
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta   /   Thu, March 28, 2019   /   11:01 pm

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/03/28/chinese-drilling-machine-to-operate-in-jakarta-bandung-high-speed-railway-soon.html

Intensive working to construct No. 1 tunnel of the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway station Halim is currently underway all-around clock to assemble the huge Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). 

"The TBM is expected to start the drilling on March 31, hopefully this assembling works can run smoothly to catch up with the schedule," Ronald Lintang, an assistant engineer at Sinohydro Co. Ltd. that carries out the project told Xinhua at the project site located in eastern Jakarta area. 

He said the TBM, having a diameter of 13.19 meters, would be the largest of its kind ever being operated in Indonesia. 

The No. 1 station, located near a Jakarta airport, is one of the four stations projected to be built for the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway train. The other three stations are located in Karawang, Walini and Tegal Luar in Bandung. 

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A worker cleans debris out of the construction site of a giant tunnel for the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Train in Walini, West Bandung regency, West Java. The railway is to stretch about 142 kilometers from Jakarta to Bandung. (The Jakarta Post/Wienda Parwitasari)

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Indonesia May Be Next Asian Country to Spurn China in Election
By Karlis Salna and Arys Aditya
March 30, 2019, 7:29 PM PDT Updated on March 31, 2019, 6:49 PM PDT

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-31/indonesia-may-be-next-asian-country-to-spurn-china-in-election

The $6 billion project linking the capital Jakarta with Bandung some 150 kilometers (93 miles) away is expected to cut the travel time between them to about 40 minutes. The journey now takes about four hours on a road clogged with trucks packed to the brim, and it can easily double when the wet season brings daily downpours.

In theory, the project should be a point of pride for President Joko Widodo, the man popularly known as Jokowi who holds a commanding lead heading into an April 17 election. But it’s been hampered by delays, and even members of his own administration have raised concerns over the transparency of its financial backer: China.

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‘Deeply Troubled’

“It’s opaque and non-transparent -- even us cabinet members are having trouble getting data and information,” Lembong said. While he doesn’t doubt that the populous area can sustain a network of high-speed rail lines over the next few decades, he called the project “deeply troubled” and lamented the lack of financial modeling or due diligence.

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China has presented a dilemma for Jokowi from early in his presidency. On the one hand, stronger ties with Beijing and billions of dollars in cheap financing help him bring jobs and overcome a shortfall of government revenue. At the same time, it risks fueling impressions that Indonesia is becoming too indebted to China, leaving him open to political attacks.

“Jokowi has been very careful not to criticize China in most circumstances,” said Aaron Connelly, a Singapore-based research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “He is caught between a rock and hard place.”

Some Chinese investment in Indonesia is driven by economics, such as nickel mining in Sulawesi, Connelly said. But the high-speed rail project turned into a bidding war between China and Japan.

“China offered lending rates and promises in terms of completion and delivery -- which it hasn’t fulfilled -- that were pretty extraordinary,” he said.

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First girder erected in Indonesia high-speed train project
Asia News Network | Publication date 02 October 2019 | 20:47 ICT

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/first-girder-erected-indonesia-high-speed-train-project

The development of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project in Indonesia has reached another important milestone following the installation of the first box girder which will support an elevated section in West Cikarang, West Java on Monday.

Chandra Dwiputra, the president director of PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) – the Indonesia-China consortium responsible for the project – said the construction of the elevated section marked another important phase in the railway’s construction after the completion of the 608m tunnel in Walini, West Bandung regency.

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http://www.crecg.com/english/2745/2808/10070726/index.html

Project name: Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, Indonesia

Total length: 150 km

Contractor: CREC

Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway is a proposed project in Indonesia, connecting the capital city of Jakarta to the textile hub of Bandung.

China have been selected by the Indonesian Government over Japan to build the country’s first fast-train rail link.



Commencing in 2016, construction on the $5.5bn project will last for three years, with completion scheduled for 2019. The project will be developed by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China, a joint venture formed in October 2015 between a consortium of Indonesian state-owned companies, and China Railway International.



The project will be carried out on a business-to-business basis, with Indonesia having 60% interest in the joint venture, while China has 40%.



China won the project due to its readiness to provide guarantee-free loans, while Japan requested Indonesian Government funding.



The high-profile railway contract was cancelled mid-way through due to high cost and funding issues. Plans were changed to a medium-speed rail link that would be 40% cheaper.



Indonesian authorities then reverted the proposal to a high-speed rail link, and awarded the contract to China.





The proposed rail link will be 150km long, with approximate train speed estimated to be between 200km/h and 250km/h.



Daily passenger flow on the rail link is expected to be 44,000 on average, with this number increasing in later years.



Travel time between the two central hubs will be reduced to 36min from the original 3h-5h.





The high-speed railway will have four stations along its route. One of the stations will be in Gambir, a major station located in the executive zone close to Monas, and expected to witness a huge passenger flow.



Manggarai will be another station location equipped to handle large number of passengers.



A station near the airport in Halim will connect the high-speed rail to a planned light rail, and will provide easy access to the high-speed rail for passengers in south-eastern Jakarta.



Another station will be located in Walini in West Bandung , which is to be a new tourism hub in West Java.






The project will be financed through a Chinese loan, without aid from the Indonesian State budget. China Development Bank will provide approximately 75% of the funding, and the rest will be arranged by the joint venture partners.



The loan will be for a 40-year period, with a 10-year grace period.



Key players involved

China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) entered a joint venture with a consortium of Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs).



The SOEs are being led by PT Wijaya Karya Tbk to develop the high-speed rail project.



The Indonesian consortium comprises PT Wijaya Karya, a construction company, railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia, toll-road builder PT Jasa Marga, and PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII, a plantation company.



Benefits of Jakarta to Bandung high-speed rail

The project is expected to generate 40,000 jobs a year during construction, creating a positive economic impact.

Associated industries such as smelting, manufacturing, infrastructure, power generation, electronics, services and logistics will also receive a boost, thus leading to a balanced growth in all sectors.

Stations and their surrounding areas will experience an increase in activity and development, which will result in new opportunities for the real estate sector. Urban and rural areas along the route will also experience balanced development.



Indonesia marks first tunnel breakthrough in high-speed railway project

Indonesia on Tuesday marked a milestone in its Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) project with the breakthrough of a tunnel at the project's landmark site in West Bandung regency.



The Walini tunnel breakthrough nearly completes the construction of 608-meter HSR tunnel near the Walini station.



"Walini tunnel breakthrough event is a milestone for HSR project in Indonesia. This milestone would further convince Indonesian people that having HSR train serves in Indonesia is not an expectation that cannot be fulfilled," Managing Director of PT China Indonesia Fast Train (KCIC) Chandra Dwiputra said.



KCIC is a joint venture consortium by Chinese and Indonesian state-owned firms that runs the 142-km HSR train project linking Jakarta and capital of West Java province of Bandung.



The Walini tunnel is one of 13 tunnels constructed for the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project. Built in 15 months, it has a diameter of 12.6 meter in the inner section and 14.3 meter in the outer section, Chandra said.




West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said that the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project would spur new economic centers alongside the route with the opening of new settlements and cities alongside the route.




"Operation of Jakarta-Bandung HSR train would set a new city development standards that heavily highlights on advanced connectivity. We hope that it would also link the newly-opened cities with strategic and essential places to further boost the economy," Ridwan said in the event.




He added that his office would also build a transit station linking the HSR station in Tegal Luar to downtown area with Light Rail Transit (LRT) transportation system.




The HSR train enables people to travel in about 40 minutes between Jakarta and Bandung, while regular trains or cars take up to 3 hours. Four stations located in Jakarta, Karawang, Walini and Tegal Luar have been planned to facilitate travelers using the HSR train.




Indonesia State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said that the China-Indonesia joint venture firm has apparently been very effective in building the tunnel in Walini.

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Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway on track as CREC installs first box girder
Jakarta   /  Thu, December 19, 2019  /  06:39 pm

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/12/19/jakarta-bandung-high-speed-railway-on-track-as-first-box-girder-erected.html

Chinese construction firm China Railway Group Limited (CREC) erected its first box girder of the elevated section of the high-speed railway project connecting Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, on Thursday.

The erection of the “extra-large” 32 meter by 2.6 m box girder follows the development of the Walini tunnel in May and the connection of the first continuous beam in October this year, the company said in a statement.

“CREC has made a new breakthrough in the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway, and has laid a solid foundation for the early completion of the project,” the company said in statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

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Coronavirus outbreak affects Chinese investment projects in Indonesia
Riska Rahman
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta   /   Wed, February 26, 2020   /  03:06 pm

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/26/coronavirus-outbreak-affects-chinese-investment-projects-in-indonesia.html

The novel coronavirus outbreak will not only disrupt supplies of raw materials for the manufacturing industry in Indonesia but will also cause a delay in important infrastructure projects, which involve many Chinese companies, a senior minister has predicted.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Panjaitan said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the infrastructure projects that were affected by the COVID-19 outbreak included the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, as many Chinese workers that worked in the projects could not return to Indonesia.

“They can’t return to Indonesia and are currently still being held up in their country after the Lunar New Year holiday,” he said during a press briefing in Jakarta.

Earlier this month, the government imposed a temporary ban on all flights to and from China following the COVID-19 outbreak in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading to Indonesia.

Luhut also expected the supply of raw materials to Indonesian industrial companies would also be disrupted as the Chinese government is still limiting economic activities in the country to prevent the virus from spreading.

However, he declined to comment on whether the hurdles could affect the project’s completion target.

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Responding to the statement, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) spokesperson Deny Yusdiaana told The Jakarta Post that the company would try its best to complete the project on time despite the delay in the return of the company’s Chinese workers.

“As for the Chinese workers, we can replace them with local workers. So, it won’t have a significant effect on the project’s progress,” he said.

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Virus delays Indonesia’s $6bn high-speed rail project
24 February 2020 | By GCR staff | 1 Comment

http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/virus-delays-indonesias-6bn-high-speed-rail-projec/

Workers and materials stuck in China amid the coronavirus outbreak will delay work on Indonesia’s $6bn high-speed railway from Jakarta to Bandung, a project official said.

Around 300 Chinese staff went home for the Lunar New Year and could not return after Indonesia banned flights to and from China.

“The problem is many of those who returned to China are at senior levels and this has affected decision making,” said Chandra Dwiputra, managing director of the Chinese-Indonesian joint venture building the railway, PT Kereta Api Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC).

Project directors, managers, engineers and consultants are among the absent Chinese workers.

“I can’t talk about targets for this year,” Chandra added, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Two thousand of the project’s 14,000 workforce are Chinese nationals.

More trouble is caused by the fact that nearly 50% of materials, including pipes, waterproofing and signalling equipment are made in China.

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SOE Ministry demands assessment of halted high-speed railway project
News Desk
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta   /   Mon, March 2, 2020   /   02:32 pm

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/02/soe-ministry-demands-assessment-of-halted-high-speed-railway-project.html

The State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry has demanded a full assessment of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project over environmental and human concerns.

It also demanded consortium PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), which is developing the railway, repair its drainage system. The system has been blamed for inundating the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road located near the project, causing traffic congestion in the area.

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In a letter sent to PT KCIC on Feb. 27, the Public Works and Housing Ministry (PUPR) demanded the project be halted for two weeks starting from March 2, citing the project’s poor drainage system.

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High-speed railway project progress reaches 32.8% in September

This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.

Investor Daily :September, Progres Proyek KA Cepat 32,8%
11 September 2019

By: Thresa Sandra Desfika

https://www.pwc.com/id/en/media-centre/infrastructure-news/september-2019/high-speed-railway-project-progress.html

Jakarta – PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia recorded the construction progress of Jakarta – Bandung High-Speed had reached 32.8% until early September 2019. The project that is worth US$ 6 billion is set to be operational by the middle of 2021.

PT KCIC President Director Chandra Dwiputra revealed that the construction progress of the high-speed railway was still in line with schedule and was predicted to reach 53% in the end of the year.

“This year, the construction target is 53%. Currently, it is at 32.8%. There are four stations and they have all commenced construction. The operational target is in 2021,” Chandra said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Furthermore, he explained that the realisation of Jakarta – Bandung High-Speed Railway land acquisition had achieved 99% and the rest were expected to be resolved in the next 1 or 2 months.

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Indonesia woos Japan as China-led high-speed-rail project stalls
Tokyo lost to Beijing in bidding, but construction delay creates new opening

KOYA JIBIKI, Nikkei staff writer
June 8, 2020 03:27 JST

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Indonesia-woos-Japan-as-China-led-high-speed-rail-project-stalls

JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government has begun discussions on possible Japanese participation in a planned high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung, hoping to spur progress on the delayed Chinese-led project as costs mount.

The new proposal would combine that rail link -- which Japan lost out on in 2015 -- with a Japanese-Indonesian project upgrading an existing 750 km connection between Jakarta and Surabaya.

Discussions have begun on extending the high-speed Jakarta-Bandung railway to Surabaya and whether it would be possible to include Japan in the consortium, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told an online news conference Thursday.

Japan is an important partner in Indonesia's infrastructure development, and cooperation will help further connect Indonesian cities and promote faster economic growth, she said.

Many in the Indonesian government have argued that a single railway running through Bandung to Surabaya would be more efficient than separate routes going east and southeast from the capital. Cost overruns on the Bandung project have given a boost to this view.

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"To be more economical, President Jokowi has instructed that the project not stop at Bandung but be extended to Surabaya" and also asked to add Japan to the consortium, Airlangga said after the meeting, as reported by The Jakarta Post.

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