JAKARTA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Monday (2/10) inaugurated the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Train (KCJB), encouraging its general operation to be implemented immediately.
The inauguration was carried out at KCJB Halim Station, East Jakarta, which is the first station of the line.
Attended by many officials–including the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, and Minister of State Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir–the event saw Jokowi signing an inscription and pushing a button to officially launch the Southeast Asia’s first high-speed train.
“By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, the Jakarta Bandung High-Speed Train, Whoosh, I declare it is operational,” he said.
Named after Whoosh, the train will operate at a speed of 350km/hour. The line itself has a total of four stations with its end located in KCJB Tegalluar Station in Bandung.
According to the president, the name Whoosh was inspired by the sound that comes from this high-speed train.
Whoosh also stands for Waktu Hemat (Save Time), Operasi Optimal (Optimum Operation), and Sistem Hebat (Great System).
“KCJB is a new thing for Indonesia in modernizing mass transportation in the country that is efficient, environmentally friendly, and integrated with other modes of transportation as well as transit oriented development,” he wrote in a social media post.
Prior to the inauguration, KCJB had undergone public free trials for as long as three weeks that met the high enthusiasm from the community.
The train is said to cut travel time from Jakarta to other major cities from three hours to, currently, 40 minutes.
