THE Indonesian capital Jakarta is now connected with the city of Bandung by a 142.3km (88 miles) long 350km/h (217mph) high-speed line which was opened by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on October 2.
Branded as Whoosh, services on the new line, the first of its kind to open in the southern hemisphere, will be operated by a fleet of 12 new 350km/h EMUs built in China by CRRC. Ajoint venture of Indonesian and Chinese state-owned companies called PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) operates the trains.
The eight-car CR400AF Yawan high-speed EMUs have seats for 600 passengers. The new line, which is electrified at 27.5kV AC, serves a combined population of more than 45 million people (the Jakarta conurbation has 34 million people and Bandung around 11 million). KCIC is planning to operate 34 train pairs daily with multiple departures per hour. There are two intermediate stations in addition to termini at both ends.
The line was funded by both the Indonesian and Chinese governments and built by Chinese construction companies. As well as trains, the line uses signalling and communication systems supplied from China. Construction was delayed by disputes over cost increases –the project was even briefly cancelled, only to be restarted – and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic leading to the line opening several years later than originally planned. However, construction was at an impressive rate when these difficulties had been overcome. Track laying only began in April 2022 and the line was fully operational within 18 months of this.
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