IO – President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) visited the Jakarta-Bandung express railway construction site within the Jababeka Industrial Region, Cikarang, Regency of Bekasi, West Java, on Tuesday (18/05/2021). Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan; Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani; Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir; and Ambassador of China for Indonesia Xiao Qian during the inspection.
Jokowi reported on the level of progress of the Jakarta-Bandung Express Railway (Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung – “KCJB”) construction: “It was reported to me earlier that construction is 73% complete and we expect to be ready for preparations for operation early next year. To repeat, we expect that the Jakarta-Bandung express railway can be tested by late 2022, and move directly into operations afterwards,” he said.
The inspection started with Casting Yard #1 in the Sub-District of Warunghaja, District of North Cikarang, Regency of Bekasi. This 165,500 square meter facility produces the box girders that support the track structure of the Jakarta-Bandung express railway. Jokowi obtained initial explanations concerning the progress of the construction here, as well as the progress at several other points (Halim Station, Tunnel 6, and Track Laying Base) through a video conference. The next inspection site was Tunnel #1 in the Sub-District of Jaticempaka, District of Pondok Gede, Bekasi City. This tunnel, which lies right under the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, is 1,885 meters long.
The President expects the Jakarta-Bandung express railway to be integrated with existing modes of transportation, such as the MRT and LRT in Jakarta. “This will provide us with time efficiency and speed of travel, which is a competitive edge for us,” he said. “We expect that the express train will increase Indonesia’s competitiveness among other nations, whether in terms of engineering or HR. We expect a transfer of knowledge and technology from this cooperative venture with China, which will be useful for developing Indonesia’s infrastructure in the future. We hope that by the time the decision to extend the rail to Surabaya is made, our HR will be ready and sufficiently experienced for the operations.” (Ekawati)