Indonesia offers Japan Jakarta-Surabaya rail project

Indonesia has officially offered Japan the opportunity to take part in the semi high-speed rail construction project connecting Jakarta to Surabaya in East Java, a senior minister said.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan delivered the official letter offering the project to the Japanese government during his working visit to Tokyo on Friday, according to a statement released by the ministry’s office.

“Personally, I am sure Japanese technology is suitable for this project,” he said in the statement released on Friday. The semi high-speed railway would have trains running between 180 and 200 kilometers per hour and would shorten the travel time between Jakarta and Surabaya to 3.5 hours, Luhut added.

The government planned a double track railway so that it could be utilized to support the transfer of containers in dry port between Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya.

Should Tokyo accept the offer to work on the project, Luhut further said he hoped that Japan would implement technology transfers with Indonesia and comply with the country’s regulations that prioritized the use of Indonesian-made products.