The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, a BRI flagship project at Indonesia Photo: CFP

The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR), the first HSR in Indonesia and Southeast Asia and a landmark project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), celebrated its first year of operation on Thursday, having carried 5.79 million passengers, according to the China State Railway Group Co.

The trains have operated safely for more than 2.57 million kilometers, and the peak single-day seat occupancy rate reached 99.6 percent, reflecting the stable and efficient operation of the HSR and an increasingly significant impact on regional connectivity, said China Railway, in a post on its official WeChat account.

The 142.3-kilometer-long HSR links Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, with Bandung, the country's fourth-largest city, with a maximum design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The railway has reduced the travel time between the two cities from more than three hours to just 46 minutes, providing a safe, green and efficient mode of transportation. 

The HSR greatly improves passengers' comfort and saves time, Zhou Shixin, director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Drawing on China's HSR expertise, the services provided by the Jakarta-Bandung HSR have been refined to meet Indonesian and international passengers' needs," said Zhou.

The railway, co-built by China and Indonesia, is a flagship project that synergizes the China-proposed BRI and Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum strategy. It is also the first overseas construction project that fully uses Chinese railway systems, technology and industrial components, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Passengers pose for photos with a high-speed electrical multiple unit (EMU) train of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway on the platform of Halim Station in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 17, 2024. The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway marked its six months of operation on Wednesday with a total of 2.56 million passengers transported, said PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese state-owned firms that constructs and runs the HSR.(Photo: Xinhua)

"HSR represents advanced infrastructure and the Jakarta-Bandung HSR is a successful example of high-quality infrastructure implementation in Southeast Asia," said Zhou.

Efficient and green transportation has also improved regional economic development. 

According to media reports, the HSR is powered by electricity, reducing the annual fuel cost by 3.2 trillion rupiah ($213 million). Between 2019 and 2023, the HSR contributed 86.5 trillion rupiah to the GDP of Jakarta and West Java province, the capital of which is Bandung.

The development and operation of the HSR have also spurred growth in related industries, including machinery, metallurgy, materials, electronics and transport, further advancing Indonesia's manufacturing and transportation sectors, according to Xinhua.

Global Times