News analysis
Fast train, slow profit: Indonesia’s high-speed rail service is bleeding money
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The trains servicing the route can reach 350kmh, though their speed varies along the journey – with the passengers hearing only a whisper-soft hum.
ST PHOTO: ARLINA ARSHAD
- Whoosh, Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail, cuts travel time between Jakarta and Bandung to 45 minutes.
- Despite its efficiency and over 10 million passengers, Whoosh faces financial losses due to high costs and low ridership.
- The government plans to extend Whoosh to Surabaya, but analysts warn about further debt and underutilised infrastructure.
AI generated
JAKARTA – Hardly making any noise, the bullet train hurls past West Java’s rice fields as it races from the nation’s capital towards Bandung, Indonesia’s third-largest city.
This is Whoosh, the country’s – and South-east Asia’s – first high-speed rail service, with the trains able to cover the 142km separating the two cities in just 45 minutes.