JAKARTA: After construction of the Trans-Java railroad along the northern coastal highway is completed in 2014, the government will commence work on a bullet train project connecting the business centres of Jakarta and Surabaya via a three-hour trip.
“A bullet-train network will create a belt that will boost economic growth in cities along the network, as in Japan,” Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The total cost of the project is estimated at US$25.79 billion and is expected to be completed in nine years, said Bambang.
The trains — to be called Argo Cahaya — would run on a 685-kilometer track on the Java High-Speed Railway that would be built for and exclusively used by Argo Cahaya trains.
It would stop at nine major stations: Manggarai in Jakarta; Cikampek, Cirebon, Tegal, Pekalongan and Poncol in Semarang; and Gambringan, Cepu and Pasarturi in Surabaya. The maintenance depots would be located in Karawang, Cirebon, Semarang and Surabaya.
“It will take only three hours to travel from Jakarta to Surabaya and vice versa,” Bambang told local media.
Each bullet train would consist of eight coaches and be able to transport 600 passengers, with the possibility of increasing the total to 12 coaches to meet higher demand in future.
The ministry’s acting spokesman, J.A Barata, said that the ministry is still seeking partners to work on the project.
However, he said that the government is optimistic that the project would go ahead as planned and that the trains would start operating in 2022.
“The trains would help the country reduce its fuel consumption and aviation carbon emissions as well,” he added.
The Transportation Ministry said that about 70 percent of the Trans-Java railroad has been completed. –BERNAMA