Passenger trips on Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway hit 1 million-mark

JAKARTA - The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR), the first HSR in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has handled more than 1 million passenger trips since its commercial operation was officially launched on Oct 17, according to the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. on Monday.

The railway's passenger trips hit the 1-million mark in number on Sunday.

As the year-end is approaching, the rapidly growing passenger flow has prompted PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese firms that constructs and runs the HSR, to intensify the train services up to 48 trips per day, from the previous 14 trips.

Since mid-October, working groups from China and Indonesia have jointly pushed for high-quality operation of the HSR by catering to passengers' needs, including promoting online ticket sales, improving passenger boarding and landing services to raise efficiency, and integrating other transit systems with the HSR to facilitate travels, among others.

Restaurants and convenience stores have opened up at stations of Halim, Padalarang and Tegalluar. Food and beverage sales are also available on train.

With a design speed of 350 km per hour, the 142.3-km HSR shortens the journey between Indonesia's capital Jakarta to Bandung in West Java province from over three hours to around 40 minutes.