Gov`t to Review Feasibility Study on High Speed Train Project

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government will review the feasibility study regarding construction of Jakarta-Bandung high speed train line, an official said.

The high speed train line was originally planned to link Jakartas Gambir station to Bandung, Director General of Railway Affairs at the Transportation Ministry, Hermanto Dwiatmoko, said after the launch of the Indonesian Railway Supporting Association here on Wednesday.

The train line will likely link Halim Perdanakusuma in East Jakarta to Tegalluar in Bandung.

The distance between Gambir and Halim Perdanakusuma is 12 kilometers. That means the project has the potential to save Rp12 trillion, he said.

He said the construction of one-kilometer tunnel will cost an estimated Rp1 trillion.

"If that is indeed the case, (the total investment of) Rp79 trillion will decline by Rp12 trillion," he said.

Technically, the ministry has only licensed Halim Perdanakusuma-Tegalluar line.

The high speed railway line, with a total length of 142.3 kilometers, will cover Halim Perdanakusuma, Karawang, Walini, and Tegalluar stations.

The train line, which will cost an estimated Rp70 trillion, is expected to start operating in 2019.

President Director of PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China, Hanggoro Budi Wiryawan, said the company will revise the feasibility study.

It will take at least one month for the company to revise the feasibility study before submitting it to the ministry for approval.

The company will hire an independent consultant for this purpose.

Chief of the presidential staffs office, Teten Masduki, said at a press conference at the Presidential Palace premises here on Tuesday that the government will go ahead with the high speed train project despite the ongoing protests against it.

"The high speed train project is part of the efforts to modernize the mass transport system and we will build it," he said.

Masduki said the construction of the high speed railway line is aimed at ensuring connectivity among cities and regions in the country.

The government received two proposals from Japan and China to develop the high speed train project. As the government decided to develop the project under a business-to-business scheme, it accepted the Chinese proposal, he said.

He said the government will not provide any financial guarantee from the state budget for this project. "What is needed is a guarantee of consistent policy," he said.

ANTARA