Indonesia high-speed railway still beset by problems

[steveluv]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Indonesia-high-speed-railway-still-beset-by-problems?utm_campaign=GL_asia_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=1&pub_date=20230213123000&seq_num=6&si=44594

Indonesia high-speed railway still beset by problems
Safety, profitability and accessibility issues haunt $6bn China-led project

Trials of Indonesia's high-speed railway, which can operate at speeds of up to 360 kph, are scheduled to begin at the end of May.   © Reuters
KOYA JIBIKI, Nikkei staff writerFebruary 11, 2023 12:01 JST

JAKARTA -- Indonesia's planned high-speed rail project, an integral part of China's Belt and Road initiative, is raising fresh concerns about its safety, profitability and accessibility.

Scheduled to start service in July, a month later than planned, the 142-kilometer-long railway will connect the capital Jakarta with Bandung in West Java province.

In mid-December, a maintenance train and locomotive derailed at a construction site near Bandung, killing two Chinese workers and spurring concerns about the safety of high-speed rail in the country. It was the first fatal accident involving the line.

A senior Indonesian government official said there was a problem with the locomotive's brake and that human error could also have played a part in the accident. Both Jakarta and Beijing said that the accident poses no threat to the safety of high-speed rail in Indonesia.

Both governments stressed that the accident was caused by the maintenance vehicle and that the locomotive imported from China escaped major damage.

Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) -- the consortium running the project, which is funded by state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and other organizations -- resumed construction before findings of the government investigation into the accident were released. The president of KAI told reporters on Jan. 28 that the railway's opening will be postponed until July.

Some have voiced doubts that the line will open in July. Construction work is only 84% complete with some railway track still not laid, according to KAI.

Trial runs of the high-speed line, which will operate at up to 360 kilometers per hour, are scheduled to start around the end of May. But even if all goes well, meeting the July deadline will be difficult, based on Japanese standards.

An executive of a Japanese trading house who has experience in overseas railway projects said that data collected during the trials will be important. Trials must run at maximum speed after which the positions of tracks are adjusted -- sometimes in millimeters.

Testing and verifying overseas rail projects backed by Japan takes at least a year, according to a Japanese government official.

Billboards at construction sites in Bandung, West Java are often written in Indonesian and Chinese. (Photo by Koya Jibiki)

Another concern is profitability. The Indonesian government initially tried to adopt Japan's bullet train for the project, but in 2015 switched to a Chinese proposal that did not involve funding by the Indonesian government.

It was decided that 75% of the construction cost would be funded by loans from China Development Bank with the remainder coming from KCIC.

Construction began in January 2016 with completion set for 2018. But overly optimistic estimates about acquiring land needed for construction pushed the finish date back.

In addition, construction costs have swelled well past the initial estimate of $5.5 billion, forcing the Indonesian government to inject more than 7 trillion rupiah ($462.1 million) into the project.

A KCIC official in December told parliament that the consortium has requested the government to extend its operating rights to 80 years from the initial 50. The group plans to eventually transfer all rights to the government but said that it will take more time to recoup investment due to the delays and ballooning costs.

KCIC has set the Jakarta-Bandung fare at 250,000 rupiah, saying that the price strikes a fair balance between profitability and usability. The company plans to keep fares for the line only about 20% higher than that of KAI limited express trains to attract riders.

Meanwhile, some observers think the project does not align with President Joko Widodo's plan to relocate the nation's capital to East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.

Others raise the question of the new line's accessibility in Bandung, noting that the terminal is too far from the city center. Passengers will have to board a different train when traveling between the Bandung terminal and the central district -- adding nearly 20 minutes to the 36-minute ride from Jakarta. It still shaves considerable time off existing train service, but the inconvenience may irk some passengers.

Despite the problems, the government is rumored to be thinking about converting all existing KAI lines between Jakarta and Bandung into high-speed rail. But some users have already voiced opposition, saying that speed is not the most important aspect of travel between the two cities, as they prefer more leisurely journeys to enjoy the view along the route.

The Indonesian government has floated the idea of extending the new railway to the country's second-largest city Surabaya in East Java province. Japan plans to help Indonesia make existing medium-speed trains between Jakarta and Surabaya faster through official development assistance, but some Japanese government officials remain skeptical of the plan.

Additional reporting by Bobby Nugroho
 

[Thaiyotakamli]

Japanese being salty

[Watwheels]

Let me guess, asia nikkei.com?

[Volvobrick]

MIC things can one lah... electric cars electric trains. 

Just don't fall into the debt trap. 

Helping the Indons test right now... 

 

[Inlinefour]

2 hours ago, Volvobrick said:

MIC things can one lah... electric cars electric trains. 

Just don't fall into the debt trap. 

Helping the Indons test right now... 

 

me took this before in Canton with xmm…really nice with syt cabin crew 🌹🌹🌹

 

 

feels better than flying tiongkok aeroplane 😍😍😍

[Stratovarius]

2 hours ago, steveluv said:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Indonesia-high-speed-railway-still-beset-by-problems?utm_campaign=GL_asia_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=1&pub_date=20230213123000&seq_num=6&si=44594

Indonesia high-speed railway still beset by problems
Safety, profitability and accessibility issues haunt $6bn China-led project

Trials of Indonesia's high-speed railway, which can operate at speeds of up to 360 kph, are scheduled to begin at the end of May.   © Reuters
KOYA JIBIKI, Nikkei staff writerFebruary 11, 2023 12:01 JST

JAKARTA -- Indonesia's planned high-speed rail project, an integral part of China's Belt and Road initiative, is raising fresh concerns about its safety, profitability and accessibility.

Scheduled to start service in July, a month later than planned, the 142-kilometer-long railway will connect the capital Jakarta with Bandung in West Java province.

In mid-December, a maintenance train and locomotive derailed at a construction site near Bandung, killing two Chinese workers and spurring concerns about the safety of high-speed rail in the country. It was the first fatal accident involving the line.

A senior Indonesian government official said there was a problem with the locomotive's brake and that human error could also have played a part in the accident. Both Jakarta and Beijing said that the accident poses no threat to the safety of high-speed rail in Indonesia.

Both governments stressed that the accident was caused by the maintenance vehicle and that the locomotive imported from China escaped major damage.

Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) -- the consortium running the project, which is funded by state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and other organizations -- resumed construction before findings of the government investigation into the accident were released. The president of KAI told reporters on Jan. 28 that the railway's opening will be postponed until July.

Some have voiced doubts that the line will open in July. Construction work is only 84% complete with some railway track still not laid, according to KAI.

Trial runs of the high-speed line, which will operate at up to 360 kilometers per hour, are scheduled to start around the end of May. But even if all goes well, meeting the July deadline will be difficult, based on Japanese standards.

An executive of a Japanese trading house who has experience in overseas railway projects said that data collected during the trials will be important. Trials must run at maximum speed after which the positions of tracks are adjusted -- sometimes in millimeters.

Testing and verifying overseas rail projects backed by Japan takes at least a year, according to a Japanese government official.

Billboards at construction sites in Bandung, West Java are often written in Indonesian and Chinese. (Photo by Koya Jibiki)

Another concern is profitability. The Indonesian government initially tried to adopt Japan's bullet train for the project, but in 2015 switched to a Chinese proposal that did not involve funding by the Indonesian government.

It was decided that 75% of the construction cost would be funded by loans from China Development Bank with the remainder coming from KCIC.

Construction began in January 2016 with completion set for 2018. But overly optimistic estimates about acquiring land needed for construction pushed the finish date back.

In addition, construction costs have swelled well past the initial estimate of $5.5 billion, forcing the Indonesian government to inject more than 7 trillion rupiah ($462.1 million) into the project.

A KCIC official in December told parliament that the consortium has requested the government to extend its operating rights to 80 years from the initial 50. The group plans to eventually transfer all rights to the government but said that it will take more time to recoup investment due to the delays and ballooning costs.

KCIC has set the Jakarta-Bandung fare at 250,000 rupiah, saying that the price strikes a fair balance between profitability and usability. The company plans to keep fares for the line only about 20% higher than that of KAI limited express trains to attract riders.

Meanwhile, some observers think the project does not align with President Joko Widodo's plan to relocate the nation's capital to East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.

Others raise the question of the new line's accessibility in Bandung, noting that the terminal is too far from the city center. Passengers will have to board a different train when traveling between the Bandung terminal and the central district -- adding nearly 20 minutes to the 36-minute ride from Jakarta. It still shaves considerable time off existing train service, but the inconvenience may irk some passengers.

Despite the problems, the government is rumored to be thinking about converting all existing KAI lines between Jakarta and Bandung into high-speed rail. But some users have already voiced opposition, saying that speed is not the most important aspect of travel between the two cities, as they prefer more leisurely journeys to enjoy the view along the route.

The Indonesian government has floated the idea of extending the new railway to the country's second-largest city Surabaya in East Java province. Japan plans to help Indonesia make existing medium-speed trains between Jakarta and Surabaya faster through official development assistance, but some Japanese government officials remain skeptical of the plan.

Additional reporting by Bobby Nugroho
 

thought jakarta sinking. put a train there for what?

[kobayashiGT]

47 minutes ago, Stratovarius said:

thought jakarta sinking. put a train there for what?

Submerging. . . 

[Volvobrick]

59 minutes ago, Inlinefour said:

me took this before in Canton with xmm…really nice with syt cabin crew 🌹🌹🌹

 

 

feels better than flying tiongkok aeroplane 😍😍😍

That's nong nong time ago when they probably had stricter standards than airline cabin crew. Now I think any standard also can join. 

[Karoon]

wow... 1 year test shorten to 3 mnths... hope they do proper test

[Inlinefour]

1 hour ago, Volvobrick said:

That's nong nong time ago when they probably had stricter standards than airline cabin crew. Now I think any standard also can join. 

true lor nowadays cabin crew also Amazon forest 🙊🙉🙈

[Beregond]

Meanwhile india-japan high speed rail is doing very well 😂

 

[Playtime]

12 minutes ago, Inlinefour said:

true lor nowadays cabin crew also Amazon forest 🙊🙉🙈

Huh?... how you know forest or carpet grass ah?

It's it part of first class customer service??

[Jamesc]

2 hours ago, Stratovarius said:

thought jakarta sinking. put a train there for what?

Underwater line!

[Inlinefour]

33 minutes ago, Playtime said:

Huh?... how you know forest or carpet grass ah?

It's it part of first class customer service??

short sleeve leh 

 

teddy bear spotted 

[mersaylee]

1 hour ago, Karoon said:

wow... 1 year test shorten to 3 mnths... hope they do proper test

Sure pass one...if they test run from point A to reach end point B in 3 months...

high speed ready? no

I don't tink they are designed for that...no aerodynamic 

crash ready? yes 😁

[Ct3833]

Reliability issue can be sorted out over time, isn't our MRT having the same  reliability issue ? 

Safety issue can also be resolved after a few more fatality, if any. Indo has got one of the lowest aviation rating, people still  are flying happily. Ferry wise, in 2020 alone, there were 33,000 people died of sea accident, making Indo the world deadliest ferry fatality county, people still take ferry like nobody's business. Who is afraid of safety issue? 

The one thing left is funding and profitability. Funding wise, Indo just have to pay and pay to China, not an issue. Profitability boils down to ridership,  Indo being 300m population, they just have to cater for 20% of the most wealthy population, that will be 60m rider potential, not a problem at all. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Ct3833

[inlinesix]

Nihonji stir shit again 

🤭

[Estrangable]

early morning in Vday... KNN ... see the  小日本鬼子 salty biased report... 

But anyway on a serious note, China is known to rush through works in order to achieve record completion time. The best example i can share with you is the country garden forest city over at JB... The nutcase developers built an entire city on reclaimed land ... the standard that Singapore adopt is typically to let the land settle over a period of 5 years (I may be wrong) before any construction starts... but our zhu guo developer just pour concrete and started building without any settling time... Now the serious cracks have formed liao... let's see any one dare to stay there when the problem get even worse...