Ticket fares for the high-speed railway service connecting Jakarta and Bandung, which is slated for launch next year, look set to be comparable with existing modes of travel between the two major cities.
Last week, President Joko Widodo during an inspection said the project was at 88.8 percent completion ahead of its planned June 2023 launch. The high-speed train is expected to cut down travel between the Indonesian capital and the West Java capital from approximately three hours on existing trains to 35 minutes.
PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (PT KCIC), a joint venture between a consortium of Indonesian state-owned companies and China Railway International Co. Ltd., recently gave estimates for single-trip fares.
“It will more or less be in the range of IDR150K-300K (US$9.69-19.39) depending on the class,” PT KCIC Corporate Secretary Rahadian Ratry said.
Jakarta-Bandung minibuses, which are colloquially known as “travel” and are among the most popular modes of travel between the two cities, come with a fare of at least IDR100K (US$6.46) per trip. Travel time on the inter-city highway takes approximately two hours.
Trains generally take just under three hours for the trip, but some cheaper services take more than four hours. Train tickets start as low as IDR45K (UD$2.91) and can go as high as IDR135K (US$8.73).
The 142.3 kilometer high-speed railway is the first phase of a planned 750 kilometer line that would run across the island of Java. The high-speed trains will be the fastest railway service in all of Southeast Asia.
The US$7.8 billion railway will feature four stations from Jakarta to Bandung, namely Halim in East Jakarta, Karawang and Padalarang in West Java, and Tegalluar on the outskirts of Bandung. Those who travel to Bandung will have to hop on a feeder bus or find their own way to the city center.
