Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail Project: Little Progress, Many Challenges

Abstract

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed-rail project (HSRP) is part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ambitious infrastructure development plan, which will cut travel time between the two cities in western Java from about three hours by car to just 40 minutes. The US $5.5 billion project is funded mainly by a loan from China. This high-profile project has been plagued by issues since its inception, including questionable benefits, a lack of proper environmental impact studies, a lack of consistency with regional spatial plans, an unclear business modality, as well as an opaque tender process that caused diplomatic tension with Japan. Since the ground-breaking ceremony in January 2016, much doubt has been cast on whether the project can be completed by the 2019 target.