Amid concerns of a Chinese debt trap, Indonesia’s first high-speed railway to finally open

[JAKARTA] After enduring delays of more than four years, the first high-speed railway in South-east Asia – a 142 km project linking Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java province – will finally commence commercial operations on Oct 1.

The Kereta Cepat Jakarta Bandung (KCJB), as it is called, is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. The made-in-China trains will reduce the commuting time between the two cities to around 40 minutes, from three hours by a regular train.

Beijing regards the railway as an enduring symbol of the close relations between the two countries, with the KCJB a major part of China’s expanding footprint in the region.