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Indonesia scraps high-speed railway plan: minister

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Indonesian government decided on Thursday to abandon a high-speed railway project and instead asked the two bidders - China and Japan - to submit new plans to build a slower train.

Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said President Joko Widodo rejected the proposal because the high-speed railway project was hard to be materialized.

It was difficult for the planned high-speed train to achieve its maximum speed of 350 km per hour as it would stop at many stations along the 150-km line linking the capital of Jakarta and Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, the president was quoted by the minister as saying.

"So, the president has decided a high-speed train is not needed. It is enough to have a medium-speed train of 200 to 250 km per hour," he said.

Besides, the cost of the project could be reduced by 30 to 40 percent compared with the high-speed railway, said Nasution.

There are eight train stations between Jakarta and Bandung, according to the minister.

"Before reaching the top speed, the train has to stop at the stations. So the maximal speed may only be around 200 km per hour, " Nasution added.

China and Japan have submitted their proposals to build a high- speed railway for Indonesia, the Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Endi