Indonesia is reviving plans to extend its Chinese-backed high-speed rail network, with ambitions to connect Jakarta with Surabaya, the nation’s second-largest city. But analysts say familiar complications could stall the project, from regulatory hurdles to the mounting debt owed to China.
The proposed extension would build on Whoosh – Southeast Asia’s first high speed rail line – a US$7.3 billion project connecting capital Jakarta to Bandung in West Java province. The 142km (88-mile) railway, which was largely funded by China, was beset with delays and cost overruns before its inauguration by former president Joko Widodo in October 2023.
Talk of extending the bullet train eastward to Surabaya has circulated since before Whoosh began operations, largely championed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Widodo’s long-time fixer and the coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment during his administration.
Now serving as chairman of the National Economic Council, a government advisory body, Luhut reaffirmed during a trip to Beijing on May 20-22 that the rail extension remained on the agenda – though he conceded that Indonesian bureaucracy had stalled progress.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (right), chairman of Indonesia’s National Economic Council, in Beijing on May 20. Photo: Xinhua
“The issue is actually on our side because we haven’t finished drafting the regulation yet. It’s that simple. But once it’s done, we’ll start talking about a joint study [with China],” Luhut told Indonesia’s state-owned Antara news agency.
