Bullet train trials delight thousands
Passengers flock to take free trips aboard China-built Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway
Days into a two-week free trial period, the Jakarta-Bandung highspeed train has carried thousands of passengers delighted at completing their round trips in 80 minutes compared with the regular train’s seven hours.
The China-made railway car carried 2,200 people on the Jakarta-Bandung round trips, intentionally a little fewer than its seating capacity.
Passengers, mostly groups of young office workers, traveled in four separate round trips — two from Halim in East Jakarta and two from Tegalluar station outside Bandung.
Several friendly-looking police officers were among the passengers, with a group of seven in a coach celebrating the birthday of a colleague.
The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) consists of four stations — Halim, Karawang, Padalarang, and Tegalluar. Bandung city is located between Padalarang and Tegalluar.
As expected, the number of people registering for the free trial, which ended on Sept 30, far exceeded the seats available.
Online registration opened on Sept 17 for the general public to travel during the Sept 18-24 period. By the morning of Sept 18, registrations had reached 98 percent of the total 550 seats available.
From Sept 15 to 17, following President Joko Widodo’s instruction, the HSR transported residents living along the route, as well as selected guests such as artists, social media influencers and journalists, helping build public interest.
Jakarta resident Elisa M. Permatasari was at Halim station two hours before the train’s departure to Bandung on Sept 21. She had never taken a bullet train before.
“This is a breakthrough for Indonesia. If not now then when (can we have this kind of train)?,” Permatasari, a senior activist with the Indonesian Toll Road Watch, said when asked to comment on the high costs of the railway project.
Saying that she, like other passengers, were not nervous about taking their maiden journey onboard the train, Permatasari noted that the Jakarta-Bandung railway had gone through a series of trials. It had also hosted state dignitaries as passengers, such as Widodo and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who had made time for a railway trip during the ASEAN Summit and ASEAN Plus Summit in Jakarta earlier this month.
However, Permatasari stressed the need for adequate feeder transport systems to and from HSR stations, an issue raised by critics.
The government is currently completing the construction of Jakarta’s integrated light rail system to enable people from different parts of the capital and surrounding areas to connect to Halim HSR station.
Passengers traveling to Bandung from Jakarta mostly get off at Padalarang and proceed to the West Javan capital on a specially built feeder railway.
The two-week free trial turned out to be a blessing in disguise for many, including Adi Adrian who works in Jakarta and goes to Bandung by bus to spend weekends with his family.
However, Adrian said it is unlikely that he would use the high-speed train for his weekend commute once it starts its commercial operations, possibly in early October.
“Its ticket prices will be too high for my pocket,” he said.
However, Adrian said he might use the train to travel with his family members from Bandung to Jakarta during the Eid al-Fitr holidays, a Muslim festival, when many workers receive holiday bonuses.
Professor Ahmad Munawar from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta said he had no doubts about the safety of China’s high-speed railway technology.
“The West may still have a little better railway technology but in the future, China can do better than others, including in matters of safety,” Munawar, an expert in transportation management, said.
Safety is not merely about the quality of the train and its tracks but also about the areas along and near the railway, he said.
The Jakarta-Bandung HSR has 14 bridges and 13 tunnels, which prevent people from getting close to or crossing the train lines.
In some areas, homes are located quite close to the railway, an area of concern expressed by Munawar, but high walls have been built along the route.
Andyka Kusuma from the University of Indonesia in Depok, near Jakarta, said that safety must be a high priority in any plans to build the Jakarta-Surabaya HSR.
High-speed trains from Jakarta to Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, could cut the current 10-hour journey to four hours.
Officials have said that China is among the parties under consideration to construct the Jakarta-Surabaya HSR project.
Meanwhile, there was no official confirmation as yet whether commercial operations for the high-speed train would start on Oct 1 as planned.
A source at the Kereta Cepat Indonesia China railway company, who requested anonymity, told China Daily that the commercial launch would be held only after the two-week trial had been evaluated.