PHOTO
Image used for illustrative purpose. A passenger train crosses the Chikubang bridge as it travels from the city of Bandung to Jakarta near Padalarang, West Java, Indonesia August 25, 2015. Japan's prime minister has sent an envoy to Indonesia to offer a sweeter deal to build a high-speed railway, a Japanese embassy official said on Thursday, highlighting the importance of the multi-billion dollar project that China also wants to win. The two Asian giants are in a neck-and-neck contest to win a contract to build Indonesia's first high-speed rail, between the capital Jakarta and textile hub Bandung, a project that would bolster their influence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.Picture taken August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside
Track laying on the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, a major project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has been completed, with full-line operation to start soon, according to Power Construction Corp of China (PowerChina), responsible for the track-laying task.
The high-speed line will connect Jakarta and Bandung, state-owned CTGN said, citing a company statement.
The project follows Chinese standard high-speed rails, with a total usage of about 38,100 tonnes of rails, said PowerChina.
The 142-kilometre high-speed railway is built with Chinese technology and has a design speed of 350 km/ hour. It will cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung from over three hours to around 40 minutes on completion.
In February, Indonesia and China agreed to a budget overrun of $1.2 billion for the first high-speed railway project.
The project was previously estimated to be $2 billion over budget, raising the total cost to $7.36 billion, according to PT KCIC, the consortium of Indonesian and Chinese state companies building the railway.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
