Indonesia’s HSR as a lasting legacy of Widodo’s presidency

WITH the launch of Indonesia’s Whoosh high-speed railway (HSR) in end-2023, this writer finally experienced it first-hand recently. The HSR is aptly named – Whoosh stands for Timesaving, Optimal Operations and an Outstanding System in Indonesian – and the end-to-end process of purchasing the tickets to the journey itself, was smooth and highly digitalised. Passengers can use a range of mobile payment solutions and are issued a QR code ticket to scan at the station gantries before boarding.

Built by a joint Indonesia-China consortium PT KCIC, the US$7.3 billion project was co-funded with a 3/4 loan from China Development Bank (CDB), with the remaining amount co-funded in a 60:40 split between the consortium’s Indonesian and Chinese partners.

Whoosh’s economic viability had previously been called into question, with a construction cost per km higher than comparable HSR projects in China and even Europe. With the CDB Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) loan spread over a period of 40 years (with a grace period of an additional 10), it is unique both in terms of its scale and technical complexity, as China’s most expensive BRI project, and the first comprehensive export of its HSR technology.

integration with other local infrastructural developments

Nevertheless, observers would be remiss in viewing Whoosh in isolation, given its integration with other local infrastructural developments. For example, direct transfers to the Greater Jakarta Light Rapid Transit (LRT) station co-sited at Whoosh’s Jakarta terminus, Halim Station, provide easy access to the greater Jakarta region.

The complementary effect of these regional transport developments will be further catalysed by the many infrastructural developments coming online in the next few years. For example, a proposed future LRT extension to Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport will also allow passengers to transit directly with Indonesia’s main international gateway.

Gaps remain, however, with a need for greater integration between the Greater Jakarta region’s disparate rail transport networks. These include the LRT, HSR, Greater Jakarta Commuter Rail, and Soekarno-Hatta Airport Rail Link. Despite the ubiquity and relatively affordable cost of taxis and ride-hailing platforms as a competing means of transportation, an integrated, multi-tier rail network would be a more sustainable solution to Jakarta’s high population density and traffic woes in the future.

On top of the economic arguments surrounding the HSR, its social impact should not be ignored. Connecting Indonesia’s largest and third-largest cities, Whoosh builds on a historical legacy of transport links in (West) Java, from the precursor Great Post Road constructed under Dutch colonial rule at the start of the 19th century, to the existing Trans-Java Toll Road network. The worries over Whoosh’s economic returns do not detract from the sense of national pride and visibility that this project has brought to Indonesia, having been hailed as South-east Asia’s first high-speed rail project.

From a regional lens, Whoosh’s role as a rail transport artery can also be juxtaposed against wider aspirations for a pan-Asian railway network. These plans have been given added impetus in recent years by the injection of Chinese BRI funding to develop several sections of a proposed Kunming-Singapore railway.

For now, however, the Indonesian HSR project is focused on discussions over the route of the eventual Bandung-Surabaya route extension. Two options are currently being explored – a northern route passing through Semarang, and a southern route passing through Yogyakarta – but the eventual network may even consider a combination of both, with local branch lines.

With Joko Widodo’s presidency drawing to a close, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR may be one of the most enduring markers of his decade-long tenure, standing out among a series of ambitious, pan-archipelagic infrastructure projects, such as Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum, and most visibly – Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) – the proposed new capital of Indonesia. Its potential benefits could be amplified in the years to come, however, by adopting a more holistic master-planning approach to the region’s diverse transportation links.

The writer completed an MA Regional Studies East Asia at Harvard University, with a research focus on Indonesia