South-East Asia’s first bullet train

First of its kind: People walking near a high-speed train during a test ride at Halim station in Jakarta. — AP

The country is launching South-East Asia’s first high-speed railway, a key project under China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative that will cut travel time between the capital and another major city from the current three hours to about 40 minutes.

The project has been beset with delays and increasing costs, and some observers doubt its commercial benefit, but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has championed it and will be inaugurating the 142.3km railway as it begins commercial operations today.