Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway nears completion, projected to significantly cut travel time

The construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia, funded in part by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, tested its first trains on August 5, 2022. The high-speed railway is expected to cut travel time between the two cities from over three hours down to about 40 minutes. The Jakarta-Bandung railway project was announced in 2015, when Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted the project contract to a consortium of Chinese and Indonesian state-owned enterprises known as Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), over rival bidder Japan. It is expected to be completed in 2023.