Senior officials give thumbs up to Jakarta-Bandung railway project

Indonesian State-owned Enterprises (SoE) Minister Rini Soemarno recently expressed her appreciation of POWERCHINA’s outstanding efforts to advance the building of the No 1 tunnel along the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway.

Soemarno’s made her remarks when a Chinese inspection group, led by China Railway Corp General-manager Lu Dongfu and POWERCHINA Chairman Yan Zhiyong, visited the project’s construction site from May 2-4.

During the visit, Lu carried out detailed checks on the progress, conditions, equipment and key timelines of the project and shared the company’s achievements and experience in high-speed railway projects.

He also expressed his full confidence in completing the Jakarta-Bandung project on time and his determination to provide all-around support for Indonesia and forge in the project a highlight symbolizing the friendly partnership between China and Indonesia.

To achieve the construction goal, Lu urged that special attention should be placed on efficiency increase, management level, resource support, cultural and religious respect, effective communication and quality control.

In turn, Soemarno promised to provide field help for Chinese builders and hoped for continuous and rapid advancement of the project by both Indonesia and China so that the railway could be completed on time.

The first project of the “going globe” strategy for the Chinese high-speed railway industry, the Jakarta-Bandung project is in line with the Belt and Road Initiative.

The railway is 142 kilometers long and will connect Indonesia's capital Jakarta with the country’s fourth largest city Bandung upon completion in three years.

Its design speed is up to 350 km/h and will cut the travel time between the two cities from the current three hours to less than 40 minutes.

One of the main constructors of the project, POWERCHINA is responsible for 15 difficult working stages out of the total 22, including those on the tunnel and super-large bridge.

Ding Zhengguo, assistant general-manager of POWERCHINA and other senior officials of the company also participated in the visit.