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JAKARTA, Sept. 2 (AP) A group of Chinese-made train cars for Indonesia’s first high-speed railway arrives at the port of Jakarta on Friday.
The 142.3-kilometer (88.4-mile) US$5.5 billion railway is being built by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, a joint venture between a consortium of four Indonesian state-owned enterprises and China Railway International Co., Ltd. The joint venture says the trains will be the fastest in Southeast Asia.
The railway line connecting Jakarta to Bandung City in West Java province is part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure initiative. Travel time between the two cities is expected to be reduced from the current three hours to about 40 minutes.
The eight carriages and an inspection train that arrived on Friday were designed and built by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd.
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“The arrival of this series of high-speed trains is good news for Indonesia, showing that Indonesia can compete with other developed countries,” said Kartika Wijoatmojo, deputy minister of state-owned enterprises.
Construction of the Jakarta-Bandung line began in January 2016 as part of a 750-kilometer (465-mile) high-speed rail project that will traverse four provinces on the island of Java.
The rail deal was signed in October 2015 after Indonesia selected China over Japan in a bid. China agreed to complete the railway without using Indonesian government funds or requiring government-guaranteed loans.
The rail line was expected to start operations in early 2019, but was delayed due to land acquisition and funding issues. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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