State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) will build a new train line to connect Kebon Kawung Station in the city of Bandung, West Java, to Tegalluar Station in Bandung regency, which will be the final station of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway that is currently under development.

“We’ve prepared diesel trains to connect [Bandung’s] Kebon Kawung Station to Tegalluar Station, which are 16.2km apart,” KAI president director Edi Sukmoro said on Monday as reported by Kompas.com.

Edi said the journey between Tegalluar and Kebon Kawung stations would take only 27 minutes. “We’ve prepared five trains, each with a capacity of 300 passengers. We can raise the capacity if the number of passengers increases,” he said.

KAI needs to construct 4.2km of new tracks, half of which will be elevated, to connect Tegalluar and Kebon Kawung stations, Edi said.

The new tracks will be built on land already owned by KAI so land acquisition will not be necessary, he added.

The funding for the project will come from the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway consortium.

“We will invest around four trillion rupiah [$286 million] for the new tracks because around 2km will be elevated,” Edi said.

“The consortium will take care of the project. However, we invite the local administration to take part,” he said, adding that the involvement of local stakeholders would prove beneficial to the project.

He said the company also envisioned the new line being connected to the Al Jabbar floating mosque in Bandung, which will open to the public next year.

To make the vision come to life, KAI plans to move Cimekar Station 1km west of its current location to be behind the mosque.

The planned Tegalluar-Bandung line and the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway are expected to be completed in 2021.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK