Jakarta (VNA) – IndonesianTransportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has said that the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) was completing a comprehensive feasibility study onthe Jakarta-Surabaya railway.
The Government of Indonesia expects to sign aMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JICA later this year to begin theconstruction of this high-speed railway project by the middle of next year.
The project will consist of two phases wherebythe first one will build a new rail track from Jakarta to Semarang while thesecond one will upgrade the existing rail track from Semarang to Surabaya.
It is estimated to take two years to constructand then six months to test before becoming operational in late 2022.
The average speed will range between 140 and 145kilometres per hour (kph) with a top speed of 160 kph, shortening thetravelling time from Jakarta to Surabaya to about six hours.
JICA estimated the project to cost 90 trillionrupiah (about 6.29 billion USD) in total but the Indonesian Government will tryto keep the price tag below 60 trillion rupiah.
JICA said it will provide the loans while the IndonesianGovernment provides land to implement the project.-VNA
VNA