Sandiaga Uno Backs Jakarta-Surabaya High-speed Train via Southern Coastal Area

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno supported the government’s plan to develop the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train as it could help promote tourist destinations and improve the people’s economy.

He suggested that the bullet train pass through Java’s southern coastal areas. “That’s a very nice route,” he said after the Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno at the ministry’s building on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023.

However, he did not impose his opinion, acknowledging that the decision on which route to take must be based on considerations of the investment rate of return.

“It must be assessed from an economic perspective, from a return on investment perspective, which route is possible,” Sandiaga said after the 2023 US-Indonesia Investment Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jakarta, on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

Aside from the stunning views along the southern route, Sandiaga considered the economic factors of the people residing around the area. “There are many poverty nodes along the southern route that could be helped by infrastructure,” the PPP politician said.

He admitted that the economic potential of the regions, including Garut, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran, Cilacap, Kebumen, and Banyuwangi has not been optimally exploited.

In early October, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi confirmed that his side had created a blueprint for the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project as ordered by President Joko Widodo alias Jokowi. Reports suggested that the train would be an extension of the recently inaugurated Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train.

YOHANES MAHARSO | MOH KHORY ALFARIZI

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