Difference between Indonesia and Japan’s calculation on Jakarta-Surabaya High Speed Train project has apparently forced the Indonesian government to postpone the project and exclude it from the list of national strategic project.
” The Japanese force Indonesia to build medium speed train from Jakarta to Surabaya following the difference calculation and policy between the Japanese contractor and Indonesian agency,” A source within the government said the source to Indonesia Business Post on February 26, 2024.
According to the study of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), the source said, with the distance between Jakarta to Surabaya 800 km long and the speed of the train is 180 km per hour, traveling between the two cities will take 5 hours. With the 5 hours traveling time, based on the study of the agency, only 1 percent of the airplane passengers wants to change their transportation from plane to train.
If Indonesia built a high speed train with the speed of 350 km per hour, the Jakarta -Surabaya travel will take only 2 hours and a half. Based on the agency study,
there will be many people who want to switch their transportation from plane to train.
However, the source said Japanese contractor insisted on constructing a medium speed train with 180 km per hour. Based on the contractor’s calculation, there will be 29 percent of the air plane passengers who want to shift their transportation if traveling time from Jakarta to Surabaya takes 5 hours. ” That’s why we exclude the project from the National Strategic Project list,there must be a lot of people who swicth their transportaion.” said the source.
He said the continuation of the Jakarta-Surabaya medium speed train will be decided by the next President ” If the president want to continue the project it is up to him, if he want to change it is up to him,” he explained.
The source said the government decision to award the project to Japanese contractor as compensation for its failure to secure Jakarta -Bandung high speed train.
It was the Japanese who did the study on future project of Jakarta -Bandung and Jakarta -Surabaya High Speed Train. ” It is a compensation for the Japanese
loss. The Jakarta-Bandung project was take over by China. So it is the Japanese who will work on Jakarta-Surabaya train.” he explained.
As presviously reported the construction of the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed railway with a speed of 165 kilometers per hour will require an investment of around US$ 5.1 billion. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan recognized that such a large amount of funds could not be borne by the state budget.
Meanwhile, during his visit to Japan, Luhut explained that Japan predicted the investment funds to be spent around US$ 6.5 billion.
