THIS November’s 17th G20 Summit in Bali will naturally be somewhat distracted by the potential presence of Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both of whom have been invited by host country, Indonesia, the current G20 president.
However, those who are into sustainable transport will keep their eyes on a very important development that is happening at the same time: the test run of Indonesia’s inaugural high speed trains from Jakarta to Bandung.
The testing of the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail is the realisation of a vision set more than ten years ago, even though much of Indonesia’s major cities are connected by conventional railway using the 1,067mm track, otherwise known as the narrow gauge.
High-speed rail (HSR) plans and studies have been in the works for in Indonesia for many years, and it was seriously considered in 2008, with plans made firm in 2015, following Joko Widodo’s ascension to the Indonesian presidency in 2014.
Just last month, Antara (Indonesia’s national news agency) reported West Java Governor M. Ridwan Kamil confirming that trials for the Jakarta-Bandung HSR will be conducted in November.
Making the remark after meeting Dwiyana S. Riyadi, the president director of the firm constructing the high-speed railway PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), Ridwan also confirmed that the project’s development has currently reached 80% completion, and is on target to open for passenger services in June 2023.
“In November, West Java residents can witness the fast train (running) back and forth on the tracks, which will be exhibited at the G20 event,” he said.
With a length of 142km, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR is designed to allow the trainset to hit its 350kph, with high-speed operations facilitated by 13 tunnels and viaducts that eliminates level crossings to bring unparalleled passenger journeys to this part of the world, making it a first for Southeast Asia.
When the system is fully operational, the traveling time from Jakarta to Bandung will be reduced from more than three hours (using conventional rail) to just 30 minutes, which will greatly help spur economic activities along the line between the two cities.
The proposed unveiling of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR at the sidelines of the Bali Summit is a fitting occasion, signalling that Indonesia has come of age, and has recognised that good logistics is inseparable from national development.
Even more amazing is that Indonesia has also committed to upgrading its narrow-gauge track stretching for 720km from Jakarta to Surabaya (via Semarang), by awarding the project to the Japanese to improve the track so that conventional trains can hit 160kph to serve its cities that are closer to the coast, such as Cirebon and Semarang.
In October 2019, Indonesia signed an agreement (called the Java North Line Upgrading Project) with the Japan International Cooperation Agency following two years of negotiations to modernise the Jakarta-Surabaya rail route, a journey that could take up to 15 hours to complete, while the limited-stop express train (the Argo Bromo Anggrek executive train) still needs nine hours to cover the distance.
This drive to modernise its rail network does not end with the Jakarta-Bandung HSR, as plans are now being made to extend the HSR line from Bandung (Indonesia’s fourth largest city) to Surabaya (Indonesia’s second largest city) via Yogyakarta (see map), even when the Jakarta to Surabaya route is already served by the narrow-gauge track. Upon completion, the expected non-stop travel time from Jakarta to Surabaya is around four hours, making it a serious alternative to flights.
Thailand pushes ahead with rail connectivity to Laos and China
In October 2010, the Thai Parliament approved proposals for five lines radiating outwards from Bangkok to all its region, with each line capable of handling 250kph.
In November 2014, Thailand and China signed a memorandum of understanding to construct the Thai portion of the cross-border railway running from Kunming to the Gulf of Thailand. Since then, much progress had taken place to eventually connect Bangkok with Kunming, another step in the realisation of the Kunming-Singapore Railway, which is increasingly being called the Pan Asian Railway (PAR).
Thailand’s commitment to the PAR is the construction of the Northeastern HSR, an 873km stretch from Bangkok to Nong Khai via Nakhon Ratchasima, with Phase 1 (Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima) expected to be completed by 2026, followed by Phase 2 (Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai) by 2029.
The Northeastern HSR will join with Laos’ first railway line, otherwise known as the Boten-Vientianne railway that opened last December. The 417km line built to sustain speeds of up to 160kph has seen highly encouraging use since it opened, moving more than 440,000 tonnes of freight as of April 25 following the opening of seven freight stations between Vientiane and the Luang Namtha province.
In a Vientiane Times report, Laos-China Railway Company deputy chief engineer Vongthong Souphanthong said freight traffic had increased significantly in recent weeks. In February, the railway had carried 157,568 tonnes of freight, averaging 2,188 tonnes a day, with a daily peak of 6,748 tonnes.
Like Indonesia, China and Japan, Thailand is proceeding with standard gauge (1,435mm) tracks to future proof itself, even though these countries already have conventional tracks such as the metre gauge (1,000mm, just like the one used by Malaysia’s KTMB). They see the need to have dedicated passenger lines to speed up travel and growth in the modern era, with the conventional lines being prioritised for freight movement to reduce the number of trucks on the roads.
Status of Malaysia’s HSR aspirations
On March 14, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong informed Parliament that discussions with Singapore on reviving the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR will begin in the second quarter of this year.
He said the Transport Ministry has been tasked to initiate discussions with the Singapore government on the HSR project, and that talks are still in the early stages.
“In line with the Prime Minister’s visit to Thailand on Feb 25, 2022, the Transport Ministry is also exploring the possibility of having a HSR feasibility study from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok,” Dr Wee said when winding up his ministerial replies on the motion of thanks to the Royal Address.
On Jan 1, 2021, Malaysia and Singapore said in a joint statement that the HSR project was cancelled after both countries failed to reach an agreement on several changes proposed by Malaysia.
In a Facebook post earlier this month, former Johor Mentri Besar, Datuk Hasni Mohammad said Malaysia and Johor in particular should aggressively relook efforts in reversing the migration flows through holistic policies targeting the entire economic ecosystem.
“These efforts can be done through better and more coherent cooperation between economic corridors in Johor, such as Iskandar Malaysia, East Coast Economic Region, and also the Pagoh Special Economic Zone.
“Malaysia and especially Johor should rethink the narrative behind the cross-border economy. It is time for us to seize more opportunities and reap more benefits from our economic interdependency,” said Hasni, who is an ardent supporter of the HSR project running through his state as he believes it can raise wages and employment opportunities for Malaysians
According to urban and transport planner Goh Bok Yen, principal and founder of an urban, land use and transportation planning consultant firm, 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.
“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
“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,” said Goh.
For the past fortnight, return airfares from KLIA to Singapore has been well above RM1,000, proving that airlines greatly need competition from HSR (other than among themselves) to lower their fares.
“There is a clear value proposition to Malaysia, as the HSR connects the entire value chain along the corridor – schools, universities, research institutes, manufacturing facilities, business support services, and future growth areas – providing convenience, connectivity and mobility that is simply not possible with other means such as conventional rail, bus or flights,” added Goh.
In the short term, the completion of the KTMB double tracking from Gemas to Johor Baru may provide a journey time of around four hours from KL Sentral to JB Sentral. In the meantime, the stretch still has to grapple with sharing space with cargo trains, which at the moment, is the only profitable aspect of KTMB’s operations (along with its other freight-handling subsidiaries).
This bottleneck caused by track sharing, also contributed in part by inadequate passenger rolling stock, is true for the entire KTMB line from Padang Besar all the way to Johor Baru.
Relief on the KTMB network as well as the North-South Expressway could also come for the northern front as Malaysia is also looking at connecting Kuala Lumpur with Bangkok using HSR.
In a Facebook post on May 17, Dr Wee said he had a bilateral meeting with his Thai counterpart, Saksayam Chidchob, in Singapore during the inaugural Changi Aviation Summit.
“Following the visit by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to meet Thailand’s Prime Minister in February this year, we have also initiated talks on a proposed HSR project linking Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, as mooted by our respective Prime Ministers.
“Mr Saksayam and I have agreed to set up a joint special committee headed by the MOT Malaysia’s secretary-general and the permanent secretary of Thailand’s MOT. The committee will be discussing the finer points related to planning, route, and other technical aspects of the proposed Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur HSR,” he said.
In an earlier post from Singapore this week, Dr Wee also revealed that he and his Singapore counterpart, S Iswaran, discussed the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR, among other bilateral transport matters.
On Wednesday, Singapore’s Foreign Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, paid a courtesy call on Ismail Sabri at Putrajaya. Following the meeting, the prime minister posted on Facebook that the issues discussed included the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR.
“May the bilateral ties between both countries continue to be strengthened for the sake of shared progress and development,” said Ismail Sabri.
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