Heaptalk, Jakarta – Indonesia’s President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo officially inaugurated the launch of the national high-speed train, named Whoosh in its station at Halim this Monday (10/02). According to Jokowi, the presence of Whoosh demonstrated the modernization of public transportation in Indonesia.
“The name, Whoosh is inspired by the train’s sounds. This Jakarta-Bandung fast train also marks the initial modernization of our public transportation to be efficient and eco-friendly. Whoosh also is integrated with other public transportation and transit-oriented development,” said Jokowi.
In his opening remarks, Jokowi conveyed that by learning from the previous public transportation – mass rapid transit (MRT) and light rail transit (LRT) – the technology, construction model, and financing model of Woosh are new for Indonesia. However, he delivered that society should be brave to adopt and learn this new technology to advance the country.
“During the initial process, unexpected matters, challenges, problems, and imperfection may appear, experiences are expensive but precious. Don’t be afraid, if we are consistent, we can reduce the error, the cost will be reduced too. In the end, production cost, the project cost will be lower year by year,” voiced Jokowi.
The President also conveyed that the launch of this flagship infrastructure also opens opportunities for the rising generation to learn and develop the national human capital to be more advanced and independence.
“I ask all of you to stop hating criticism and stay motivated to learn. We build infrastructure based on our experience, spanning port, airport, toll road, it has provided us experience and skill to generate better results in the future,” uttered the President Jokowi.
Previously, Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan revealed that the appearance of this new public transportation managed to attract high public enthusiasm during the trial period. Responding to people’s desire to experience Whoosh, Luhut announced that the cost to enjoy this fast train which serves Jakarta-Bandung trip will be free until the middle of October 2023.
“Perceiving public high enthusiasm towards Whoosh during its trial test, we (Government) agreed that the cost to experience this new train is free until the middle of October,” stated Luhut
For information, the US$7.3 billion high speed railway is the first high-speed train in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia that hits speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour. The name Whoosh is the abbreviation of Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Hebat which means saving time, optimal operation, and great system. Whoosh railway spanning 142.3 kilometers will cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung from over three hours to around 40 minutes.
