Whoosh: a boon for Indonesia?

The Jakarta-Bandung railway cuts travel time from three hours to less than an hour

Joko Widodo on Monday inaugurated Indonesia’s and Southeast Asia’s first bullet train. “The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train marks our efficient, friendly and integrated mass transportation system,” the Indonesian president said at the ceremony. The 142-kilometer long and $7.3 billion high-speed rail line, part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), connects the capital Jakarta with the one of the most creative and cleanest cities, Bandung, which also boasts as the country’s Silicon Valley and a top economic hub.

It has officially been named as Whoosh that comes from the sound of a fast train and is an acronym for Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Handal (time saving, optimal operation, reliable system) in Indonesian language and shows trust in China’s capability in implementing high-speed rail projects. The Jakarta-Bandung railway not only cuts travel time from three hours to less than an hour by offering a speed of 350 kilometers per hour; the project is also environment-friendly for it runs on electricity with no direct carbon emissions.

The project marks the modernisation of the Indonesian infrastructure and will be an economic boon for the country due to its potential to raise productivity. The public’s “high enthusiasm” for the mass transport project is indicative of its effectiveness for the people; it serves Jakarta’s National Strategic Projects that aim to boost economic growth and achieve equitable and regional development as well as community welfare.

Jakarta in 2015 announced holding a “beauty contest” between China and Japan for the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, inviting a “third party” to make an objective technical assessment to ensure transparency. Beijing won the bidding over its better “financial structure” that unlike Tokyo didn’t require any Indonesian government financing or guarantee.

China and Indonesia in 2017 entered into the feasibility agreement for infrastructure financing and means of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Beijing. Presidents of the two countries witnessed the signing of the landmark agreement that was undertaken by the PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, a joint venture between an Indonesian consortium of four companies and China Railway International.

It exemplifies a practical cooperation between Beijing and Jakarta as trains have been specifically modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate and are equipped with a safety system including threat detection sensors and a disaster monitoring terminal that can respond to earthquakes, floods, strong winds and other emergency situations that the world’s largest country frequently faces over its proximity to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. During construction phase, it was expected to generate 40,000 jobs a year and gave a boost to associated industries such as smelting, manufacturing, infrastructure, power generation, electronics, services and logistics.

During his visit to Indonesia last month, Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a ride of the Whoosh from Jakarta to West Java, a 40-kilometer distance that took just 11 minutes. He returned to attend the East Asia Summit and met the world leaders including US Vice President Kamala Harris, whose country has just 735 kilometers of high-speed rail network as Americans are “hopelessly stuck with a highway and airline mindset”.

The criticism on the rise of the Whoosh cost takes a hit with the UK HS2 railway project expect cost rising from $45.5 billion to $128.5 billion, 8.5 times more than comparable project in Europe. By the time it becomes operational almost six years later, it will be six times more expensive than the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail network.

The operationalisation of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway puts Indonesia in the ranks of only a handful of countries in the world that has the latest rail technology. The Whoosh, welcomed fervently by the Indonesian people, will encourage further transformation of the country’s public transportation through a cooperation with China, which was relatively a newcomer but now leads the world thanks to its serious efforts and heavy investments in the rail sector.

China has the world’s largest high-speed rail network of around 40,000 kilometers. Beijing plans to extend the system to 70,000 kilometers by 2035. It is also the world’s largest for bullet trains that can travel up to 350 kilometers per hour. The country’s Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway — the world’s longest bullet train spanning 2,298 kilometers — by last December had handled 1.7 billion passengers during 10 years of its operations, slashing travel time from more than 40 hours to about 8 hours. China additionally owns the world’s fastest public train, Shanghai Maglev, which could run at 460 kilometers per hour.

Beijing has emerged as undisputed world leader in high-speed rail network; its domestic and overseas bullet train projects such as the Whoosh contribute to global campaign against climate change as the world seeks to acclimatise itself to the concept of “flygskam,” a Swedish term that means “flight shame” and discourages short-haul air travel because of its potential to emit carbon 100 times less than airplanes.

Other than providing an even greener environment, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway will reduce traffic congestion, enhance efficiency and productivity, improve connectivity between economic centres while offering a captivating fusion of speed and convenience and bringing benefits for local communities in the form of new job opportunities and higher economic growth as well as rapid transportation services and faster access to their destination and workplaces.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2023.

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