High-Speed Train Projects Offered to Japan

TEMPO.CO, Surakarta - The Indonesian government has offered various transportation projects to the Japanese government at the 5th Deputy Transportation Ministerial level meeting in Surakarta, which had been held since yesterday until today.

Deputy Transportation Minister, Bambang Susantono, said the Japanese government is set to develop a new institution with the initial budget of US$ 1 billion. "They are looking for projects in Indonesia for collaboration," he said after the meeting yesterday.

The Indonesian government offered transportation projects for air, sea, and land. The projects amongst others are the development of a railway for high speed trains from Jakarta city to Soekarno-Hatta International airport, Cengkareng, which is estimated to require Rp18 trillion, and the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project that will be further studied.

According to Bambang, Japan could become a suitable partner to realize high-speed train projects, because for the past 50 years there had been no high-speed train accidents that occurred in Japan. Moreover, trains in the country have merely delayed for less than a minute, and their durability is above 99 percent.

UKKY PRIMARTANTYO