Indonesia launches China-backed 'Whoosh' high-speed railway

Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated a $7.3 billion high-speed train connecting Jakarta and the city of Bandung on Monday, a China-backed project that has been plagued by issues.

The 142-kilometer (88.23-mile) railway, one of the president’s signature infrastructure projects and a component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has been plagued by obstacles ranging from land acquisition to pandemic-related delays and skyrocketing prices.

The debut of the “Whoosh” bullet train on Monday is much behind the initial objective of operating in 2019.

“The name is inspired by the sound of a rushing high speed train,” Jokowi, as the president is popularly called, said during the launch.

The maximum operating speed of the train could reach 350 kilometres per hour (217 mph), Jokowi said, calling this “the modernisation of our mass transportation that is environmentally friendly”.

Luhut Pandjaitan, a senior minister overseeing the project, said at the launch that free trial rides on the bullet train, which have been under way since the second week of September, will be extended and ticket prices will be implemented in mid-October.

A consortium of Indonesian and Chinese companies built the railway.