Introduction

Indonesia’s 142km Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail (HSR), ca

As the first export of China’s full-fledged HSR industrial chain system, Whoosh represents a strategic advance for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia. As much as 75% of the project’s original estimated cost of US$5.5bn was covered by a loan from the China Development Bank. Furthermore, the line was constructed by a joint venture headlined by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), 60% of its ownership is held by Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises while the rest is China’s.

Whoosh, with its operating speed of 350 km/h and 62 daily trips, elevates commuting to a new level by offering a convenient and comfortable ride: a journey that usually takes more than three hours by car now takes only 40 minutes. The HSR has also elevated the price of real estate: type-54 units around West Bandung, especially near Padalarang Station, saw a price increase of 10%.

Whoosh is rapidly gaining popularity and making history in the process. It passed the 1-million passenger mark in December 2023, just 2.5 months after commencing operations. By September 2024, this number swelled to 5 million and later 10.7 million by July 2025.

Despite criticisms directed against the project, after Whoosh’s launch, talk of an extension to Surabaya gained momentum. Surabaya is the capital city of East Java and the second largest city in the country, and thus greater access to and from the city is likely to bring about multidimensional advantages, including business, trade and connectivity not only between Jakarta and Surabaya, but also all the future hubs and stops that the train will pass through.

Extending to Surabaya

Connecting Jakarta and Surabaya through an HSR system has been on Indonesia’s agenda for years. The idea was first proposed during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) administration in 2008, with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) carrying out a series of studies in early 2010s. SBY’s successor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, however, prioritised the Jakarta-Bandung segment and deferred the longer Jakarta-Surabaya route.

Prabowo Subianto’s administration saw the plan return to the spotlight, with KCIC and the government conducting pre-feasibility studies to identify the most viable alignment and financing scheme. Three main routes are being looked at: a southern corridor through Kroya and Yogyakarta (about 3 hours), a central path through Cirebon and Purwokerto (about 3 hours 13 minutes), and a northern route through Cirebon and Semarang (about 3 hours 4 minutes). Each of these would slash the current travel time of about 10 hours by car or 7 hours 45 minutes by conventional train. The southern route is currently deemed as the best option based on travel time, cost and construction techniques.

The government has promoted the plan domestically and internationally. During a trip to Beijing in 2025, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who is the chairman of the National Economic Council, confirmed the extension of the existing HSR rail to Surabaya. He also said that the project is still waiting for a new presidential rule to move forward.

In the same spirit, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) showcased the project to potential investors at a recent international conference, emphasising that the megaproject must be carefully designed given the challenges of land acquisition and land compensation.

This is not a done deal, however. The government is also considering alternative options, such as building a medium-speed rail instead for the route to Surabaya as an extension of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. This is founded on the concern of stratospheric costs. In comparison, the price tag of the Jakarta-Bandung line swelled from the initial US$5.5bn to about US$7.3bn.

Besides, there are greater concerns that require further attention. If the megaproject fails to adequately address environmental and social concerns, it will lead to delays, complications, and cost overruns, akin to the problems that plagued the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project.

Lessons

Experience from the Whoosh construction is informative in this regard.

From the environmental perspective, the project construction caused landslides, flooding and property damage due to extensive earthworks, tunnel blasting, and inadequate environmental management. Wahana Lingkungan Indonesia (WALHI) also questioned the project’s environmental impact assessment and demanded greater monitoring during its construction, though such appeals received limited responses from the authorities.

It is important to note that environmental concern is not exclusive to Indonesia. Indeed, the construction of the Beijing-Shenyang HSR pushed 300 demonstrators to stage a rare protest in Beijing, where they complained about potential excess noise and electromagnetic radiation the facility would bring about.

This is not to say there is no environmental trade-off. Despite the above criticisms, HSR can help lower air emissions by getting people to switch from planes to electric trains. In China, for example, the addition of more HSR trains between 2015 and 2017 helped cut carbon emissions from the air by about 36 million tonnes, or 18.1% per year. 

A Jakarta-Surabaya HSR could also offer an alternative to short-haul flights in Indonesia, creating a “green corridor” that fits with the country’s climate goals.

This potential benefit, however, must be juxtaposed vis-à-vis the environmental damage that will surely transpire during the construction process, as activities such as tunnelling, land clearing and building using concrete all bear environmental costs and produce high carbon.

Moreover, the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR also had negative effects on people’s lives. The land acquisition process in the densely populated West Java was highly complex and forced communi

The consternation of hundreds of affected families cannot be overstated, as the route displaced and forced them to switch their modes of livelihood. Indeed, public protests were a frequent feature during the development of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project.

Indeed, this had led to calls for clearer channels of communication between officials and affected communities and for the right measures to be taken to restore people’s source of income. Only time will tell if the government will heed such a plea in the construction of the Surabaya route.

Again, land disputes emanating fr

This goes to show that the predicaments of those displaced families along the Jakarta-Bandung route are more universal than they might realise.

Strengthening Safeguards

Environmental and social safeguards are crucial if the government were to pursue the extension of the rail line to Surabaya. Compliance with existing guidelines, such as the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), is more important now than ever, especially in identifying, measuring, and addressing environmental and social impacts. This would help the developer to anticipate potential risks and take mitigating actions as early as possible.

Furthermore, affected communities must be provided with effective channels to file complaints and concerns. The government and developer must complement this by pursuing strong community engagement and undertaking a genuine consultation process, while also compensating the communities fairly. If resettlement is necessary, livelihood restoration programmes, sufficient housing, adequate infrastructure and social services must be offered to them.

Moreover, transparency and accountability also matter, ensured through good governance. This includes open and competitive project tenders, independent financial and environmental audits, the implementation of clear data disclosure standards throughout all phases of infrastructure development, and clearly defined responsibilities among different levels of governments and rail operators at every stage. Only by implementing these safeguards can the HSR expansion lead to growth that is environmentally responsible and does not leave anyone behind.