It would be an understatement to say that October was a momentous month for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Beijing celebrated the initiative’s 10th anniversary by holding the third Belt and Road Forum; around the same time, its signature high-speed railway (HSR) in Indonesia became operational. The launch of “Whoosh,” the Jakarta-Bandung HSR, on … Read more
Advertisement Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo yesterday launched his country’s – and Southeast Asia’s – first high-speed railway, a milestone both for his administration and for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy scheme. The $7.3 billion rail line, which links the capital Jakarta to the city of Bandung … Read more
ASEAN Beat | Economy | Southeast Asia The soft launch of the railway, Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line, has been pushed back from August 18 until early September. A train engine rolls past a model of a high-speed train displayed at the construction site of a Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway station in Tegalluar, West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. … Read more
Workers lower an electric multiple unit, part of Chinese-made high-speed passenger train, onto a truck at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Advertisement Recently, Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation announced plans to extend the high-speed railway linking Jakarta and Bandung. Risal Wasal, the director general of railways at … Read more
Pacific Money | Economy | Southeast Asia Whether or not the rail line turns a profit, Jakarta is hoping that the project brings a wider range of subsidiary benefits. Indonesian President Joko Widodo stands near a newly-unveiled Comprehensive Inspection Train (CIT) unit during his visit to the construction site of a Jakarta-Bandung Fast Railway station in Tegalluar, West Java, … Read more