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Country helps region get up to speed

China's first overseas high-speed railway project fully adopting the country's own technologies and standards is progressing at pace in Indonesia, with a successful inspection test run conducted on November 16 on the Jakarta-Bandung line.

The 142-kilometre line has a designed speed of 350 kilometres an hour and is scheduled to open to the public next June. The route connects the Indonesian capital Jakarta with the city of Bandung to the east and reduces travel time between the cities from more than three hours to just 40 minutes.

China Railway International, which is overseeing the project, said all data collected on the inspection test run showed the railway performed well.

Construction of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway began in June 2018 and is a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, and a hallmark of Sino-Indonesian co-operation, China Railway International said. It will be Indonesia's first high-speed railway.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, who visited the project construction site on October 13, said the new link will ease daily commuting, improve economic competitiveness, and develop new economic growth points in Jakarta and Bandung.

It is not only Indonesia that stands to benefit from the project, which will also help realise ASEAN's "big idea of regional connectivity through seaports, airports and other fast trains", Antara, Indonesia's state-owned news agency, quoted Widodo as saying.

Aditya Dwi Laksana, chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society, said opening a high-speed railway is a milestone for the country's public transportation.

He said he hopes the project will lead to technology transfer, because operating the new line will allow Indonesia to develop an inter-city rail transportation system that uses high-speed technology.

Linda Tjia Yin Nor, assistant professor in the department of public and international affairs of the City University of Hong Kong, said Indonesia's high-speed rail project is in line with China's decision to export related technology it has developed over the years.

"China focuses on (more) pragmatic technology," Tjia said.

She cited the trains customised for Indonesia, saying that those built in China are made to adapt to local weather conditions and the natural environment.

China also focused on reducing costs by using less-expensive materials, she said. As a result, China adapts to the needs of a developing country, which include low costs but not necessarily lower quality.

China's focus on pragmatic technology is the reason for its involvement in other railway projects in Southeast Asia, Tjia said.

For example, last December the China-Laos Railway opened. The 1,035-km line connects Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, with Vientiane, capital of Laos. The journey on the line now takes 10 hours, compared with 30 hours by road.

By the end of October more than 1.7 million metric tonnes of goods had been shipped on the Laotian section of the route, with an average monthly growth rate of a little more than 17 per cent, Xinhua News Agency said.

China Communications Construction Co and Malaysia Rail Link are building Malaysia's mega rail project, which is expected to be completed by 2026. The 665-km East Coast Rail Link will operate between Port Klang in the western state of Selangor and the northeastern state of Kelantan.

In addition to carrying passengers, building these railway projects — in particular, bullet trains — coincides with an online shopping boom in Southeast Asia. Tjia said bullet trains transport goods and provide express delivery services because they are fast and follow a regular schedule.

"High-speed rail is not only for passengers, but also enables you to make money by delivering goods, especially small, high-value goods."

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