Tazeen Akhtar
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh – When you listen this you are about to board the Bullet Train between the capital of Indonesia , Jakarta and historical, cultural hub Bandung for a unique experience of travel by high-speed train service. The train not only facilitates the 45 Million residents of both largest cities but also provides an opportunity to the foreign tourists to travel and see the cities within the least possible time.
The staff calls Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh indicating that the train is about to leave the station so make a hurry to get in. It is the brand name for high-speed train operated by Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC).The name Whoosh was inspired by the sound of a rushing high-speed train, but that it was also an abbreviation of “Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Handal” in the local Indonesian language, which translates to “Timesaving, Optimal Operation, Reliable System”.
Whoosh Whoosh will not let you sleep and waste the opportunity of sightseeing of the beautiful landscape of Java from the skyscrapers of Jakarta to the volcanoes of Bandung. Lush green farms and eye catching mountains enthralls the tourists to remain awake and see around. If you are from Pakistan like we two editors were last week, you will be pleased to see a masjid similar to Faisal Masjid Islamabad. It is Masjid Aljabbar at the outskirts of Bandung. Standing amidst a lake , it gives a picnic point to the tourists as well as the locals who come here for prayers.
President Joko Widodo launched Whoosh on 02 Oct 2023 in an impressive ceremony after the inaugural was postponed many times but for the fool proof safety only. The citizens were offered free travel until the mid of Oct. Whoosh is first high speed train not only in Indonesia but in the whole Southeast Asia. It is a milestone both for the administration of President Joko Widodo and for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).The train is joint venture of Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) led by PT Wijaya Karya Tbk and The China Railway Group Limited (CREC).
The Whoosh is covering a distance of 142.3 kilometers (88.4 Miles) with a top service speed 350 kilometers per hour (220 mph),connecting two of Indonesia’s First and Third largest cities, Greater Jakarta with over 34 million population and Greater Bandung with population of 11 million, serving a total of 45 million population. It reduces the travel time between the two cities from 2 hours to about 40 minutes.
The Whoosh’s total cost is $7.3 billion USD. The rolling stock for the Whoosh has been stated to be the KCIC400AF Fuxing EMU trainsets.The first trainset arrived in Indonesia mid-2022 and was tested on 16 November 2022, during the G20 Bali summit. The Jakarta-Bandung HSR line performed further trial runs in May 2023, during an ASEAN Summit,and was initially scheduled to begin general operation in August 2023, coinciding with Indonesia’s independence day celebrations.
The project’s opening was then delayed to September, with officials citing a need to ensure passenger safety as the primary cause. Corona pandemic was also a cause of delay in the launch. The Jakarta-Bandung HSR began trial operation with passengers on 7 September 2023, and commercial operations on 2 October 2023.
President Widodo rightly said at the inaugural ceremony that the bullet train was a manifestation of progress for Indonesia’s public transportation system and that the experience learned in the development of the bullet train would have a positive impact on the country’s infrastructure development moving forward.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train signifies the start of modernizing our mass transportation system, making it efficient, environmentally friendly, and interconnected. Indonesia government is considering extending the reach of the bullet train all the way to Surabaya, the country’s second largest city, in East Java about 700-kilometer further east from Bandung.The government plans to have six WHOOSH units serving daily trips once the bullet train system goes fully operational.
