Indonesian president launches Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway, funded by China

By ACHMAD IBRAHIM and NINIEK KARMINI
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway, which begins its commercial operations on Monday, a key project under China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative that will drastically cut the travel time between two key cities. The $7.3 billion project connects Jakarta with Bandung, the heavily populated capital of West Java province. It will cut travel time between the cities from the current three hours to about 40 minutes. Its use of electrical energy is expected to reduce carbon emissions. Widodo in his opening remarks officially named Indonesia’s first high-speed railway — the fastest in Southeast Asia, with speeds of up to 217 mph — as “Whoosh,” an acronym from the Indonesian words for “timesaving” and “reliability.”