Whoosh is a South-east Asian landmark

Whichever way you look at it, the opening for public use of Whoosh, Indonesia’s first high-speed railway which connects national capital Jakarta to the city of Bandung at speeds of up to 350kmh, is a landmark event. Aside from cutting travel time between the two cities to some 40 minutes from as much as three hours previously, it is South-east Asia’s first such facility, and located as it is in the region’s biggest nation, a visible testament to the benefits of spare capital in one nation – in this case, China – being gainfully used in an infrastructure-starved fellow Asian state. All of Asean, and nations further afield, will take note.

Those critical of the project will point out that Whoosh, which has been folded into China’s Belt and Road Initiative, was delayed four years and had a significant cost overrun. From a projected US$5 billion (S$6.9 billion) at the planning stage, the final bill exceeded US$7 billion, requiring the Indonesian government to bridge much of the gap. While land acquisition issues and the pandemic did slow construction, a 40 per cent increase in project size unquestionably is a point of concern. Given that the line is only 142km long, it will also raise questions whether this was anything more than a vanity project for Mr Joko Widodo in the last lap of what has been a successful and popular presidency.