OCTOBER marked a great month for the development of rail travel in Asia, as Indonesia proudly opened the southern hemisphere’s first ever high speed rail (HSR) for service after nearly eight years of construction.
Running from Jakarta to Bandung over 142km, this Chinese-built package cuts a three-hour-plus road journey to a mere 40 minutes, a stunning achievement as time is a very precious commodity in this modern world.
Branded as Whoosh, an acronym for Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Hebat (loosely translated as Time saving, Efficient, and Excellent System), this state-of-the-art train can gallop up to 350kph during commercial operations, making it a rare feat for rail travel.
By connecting two of Indonesia’s largest cities – Greater Jakarta with over 34 million population and Greater Bandung with population of 11 million – the Jakarta- Bandung HSR will eventually serve a conurbation consisting of 45 million persons by its ability to compress distances through its sheer ability to reduce travel time, thus rendering distance into non-problem, if at all.
Since its opening on Oct 2, commuters have been astounded by its sleekness and stability as it zooms across the landscape with the promise of ushering in development in ways that could only be imagined.
Even before Whoosh started operating, Indonesia is already considering extending the initial HSR alignment from Bandung to Surabaya, another booming cosmopolitan about 700km away by road.
In September, Indonesian and Chinese authorities discussed plans to extend the HSR network across Java island, all the way from Jakarta to Surabaya via Bandung.
The current road journey from Bandung to Surabaya is at least 10 hours or more, while the aged legacy railway system takes nearly half a day or more to complete the journey, thus creating an opportunity for HSR to rejuvenate this corridor that suffers from perpetual traffic congestion.
Thailand is the next one to watch out for
As Indonesia launches South-East Asia’s maiden high speed rail service, Thailand is not too far behind, having embarked on the modernisation of its rail network more than a decade ago.
Currently, the construction of the first HSR in Thailand is underway, which is expected to connect with the Laos-China Railway to become part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
This critical link is also in part realisation of the long-touted Singapore-Kunming rail link, a concept discussed several decades ago.
Thailand makes no secret of its ambition to be the HSR hub of the Asean Economic Community, having announced its intent of having five HSR lines sprouting from Bangkok in all directions, including one southwards to Malaysian border so that it can connect with its neighbour at Padang Besar, a distance of close to 1,000km.
On its website, the Thailand Board of Investment says to ensure it maximises its strategic location at the heart of the Asean Economic Community, Thailand will invest around 1.9tril baht (RM255bil) under its Thai Transport Infrastructure Development Plan 2015-2022 and Urgent Transport Action Plan 2015.
Key infrastructure projects include intercity rail network development, along with public transportation network development to address road traffic problems in Bangkok and its suburbs, even though it will increase its highway capacity to connect the country’s key production bases with those of neighbouring countries.
Currently, attention is now on the Bangkok-Nong Khai HSR, a stretch on Thailand’s northeastern HSR line, a 608km stretch that is currently under construction, and one that is critical in making rail travel from Kunming to Singapore via Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur closer to reality.
This stretch is expected to be operational by 2030 at the latest as the country battles hard to overcome several challenges along the way. Under Phase 1, the 252km stretch from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima will be completed in a few years from now, though no exact timeline is given.
In a recent presentation at the inaugural Women In Rail Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, the Thai director-general for the Rail Transport Department, Dr Pichet Kunadhamraks, admitted that progress of rail construction in Thailand is “slow”, though it can be inferred that it is mostly for valid reasons.
One of it is the intent of the Thais to learn as much as they could from the HSR construction process, departing from the strategy of leaving everything to the main contractor or technology supplier, said Kunadhamraks in his presentation titled High Speed Rail: Thailand’s Push To Promoting Greater Connectivity within Thailand and the larger Asean region.
An analysis by Japanese rail experts said Thailand intends to maintain a certain level of autonomy in the development of HSR, with Thailand providing full funding for first phase of the HSR project that involves heavy Chinese input, with both countries “sharing responsibilities” for design, construction, and supervision with the Chinese side.
Crucially, while obtaining heavy technical input from China on the HSR technology, Thailand wants to take the lead when it comes to infrastructure development (especially he civil infrastructure part such as bridges and tunnels), with the Chinese side seen as a contracting party.
Thailand is also open to the idea of multiple HSR systems from different countries, with the planned northern line from Bangkok to Chiangmai based on Japan’s shinkansen following the signing of a memorandum of cooperation on May 27, 2015.
It is also open the different funding or contracting models, with its “Three Airport HSR” linking Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi with U-Tapao (near the Gulf of Thailand) developed using the public-private partnership model, with the proposed system having a design speed of 300kph.
However, analysts believe that these challenges are not insurmountable, and that the Thais need to closely monitor these projects in order to realise their benefits and contribute to the kingdom’s development. In fact, industry observers have said that if executed correctly, Thailand’s HSR network has the potential to play a crucial role in the transportation network of not just Thai soil, but also the Mekong region in the future.
In May 2022, then Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong announced that Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to set up a joint special committee to look into linking Thailand’s HSR network from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. Dr Wee said this following a bilateral meeting with his Thai counterpart Saksayam Chidchob, where he added the committee would discuss the planning and technical aspects of the proposed HSR project.
Malaysia has to act decisively
Over in Malaysia, time is running out for industry players to submit their expressions of interest for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR, a project mooted since 2010, formally accepted by Singapore in February 2013 with the completion timeline by 2026.
The Kuala Lumpur–Singapore HSR was envisaged to link Bandar Malaysia with Singapore’s Jurong East, while also featuring a transit service serving six Malaysian growth centres: Sepang-Putrajaya, Seremban (Labu), Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat, and Iskandar Puteri.
The project suffered a huge setback with the change of federal government in May 2018, and has been languishing in uncertainty since then even if projections show that there is already a ready catchment and ample opportunities to be tapped when the the trains start running.
ALSO READ: Recalibrating the High-Speed Rail for Malaysia’s future
Urban and traffic planners say too much time has been wasted in tapping into the manifold opportunities presented by this game-changing project.
“From a national land use optimisation aspect and movement demand pattern, the justification for the project is obvious, and the project will undoubtedly assist the nation in realising the unexplored regional development elements, which will mutually benefit both countries.
"We have conducted feasibility, preliminary design, financial and other necessary studies. Let’s look back on the critical factors leading to the cancellation of the project and unlock it from there,” said Goh Bok Yen, principal and founder of an urban, land use and transportation planning consultant firm.
He said reviving the project is a sensible move as it is critical to combine the regional strategic position of the two countries via the integration of geographical and economic assets.
“The on and off decisions on HSR over the years showed that we had made at least one (or more) painful expensive mistake, but it does not warrant us to shut the door without relooking its potential contribution,” he told Sunday Star.
“The bulk of the 350km line to Singapore lies in Malaysia, and the generation of economic growth and diversification is obvious (along the corridor). In brief, let us look at this high impact, high contribution project, and focus on overcome the issues in realising this project,” Goh added.
In promoting the project, the unity government maintains that the proposed cross border HSR is not merely a transportation project, but a catalyst for regional growth.
“The current administration firmly believes in the benefits of HSR, and is key to revive the project. However, due to fiscal constraints arising from the country’s debt level, annual debt servicing costs, other commitments, the government wants to explore to see if the public-private partnership route model is the way to go,” said Datuk Mohd Nur Ismal Kamal, CEO of the MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd, the special purpose vehicle formed to implement the project.
On July 11, MyHSR Corp called for proposals from the private sector and firms to be submitted for the development of the HSR project, signifying the strongest sign of revival for this project.
With the closing date for the HSR proposal submissions set for Nov 15, prospective investors will soon be sending in their proposals, after being given three months to perform their due diligence.
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