"We are still awaiting the return of the president. The (transportation) minister has not informed us anything about it," Director General of Railways Prasetyo Boeditjahjono said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The plan to revitalize the Jakarta-Surabaya railway network in Northern Java is still awaiting directives from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who is currently on an overseas trip, a senior official stated.

"We are still awaiting the return of the president. The (transportation) minister has not informed us anything about it," Director General of Railways Prasetyo Boeditjahjono stated at a function here on Thursday.

Prasetyo said if Japan realized its financing for the revitalization of the Jakarta-Surabaya railway route in Northern Java, the project could be carried out soon.

However, the director general noted that the Jakarta-Surabaya railway project was not a priority program in the governments 2015-2019 strategic railway development plan.

"The governments priority railway projects are not in Java. The eastern regions are being prioritized. Therefore, we want to first complete the work on the Trans Sumatra and Trans Sulawesi projects as soon as possible," he emphasized.

President Jokowi is currently attending the Group of Seven meeting in Japan.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung ensured that as part of the agenda, the financing of the Patimban Port, which replaced the Cilamaya Port, would be discussed with Japan. He did not ascertain whether the revitalization of the Jakarta-Surabaya railway network would also be discussed.

On a separate occasion, Hemi Pamurahardjo, the public information and communication bureau head of the Transportation Ministry, was also not able to confirm whether the documents on the revitalization of the Jakarta-Surabaya railway network were taken to Japan and would be discussed during the presidents state visit to that country.

"I do not have the data and documents on the matter. However, there is the possibility (for the projects to be discussed)," he stated.

Japan had earlier expressed its interest to revitalize the Jakarta-Surabaya railway network to increase the train speed from the current 80 kilometers (km) per hour to 150 km per hour.

The directorate general of railway affairs earlier revealed that Japan had expressed interest to revitalize Northern Javas railway network.

Japan was earlier offered to finance the Trans Sumatra and Trans Sulawesi projects, but it preferred to upgrade the train speed on Northern Javas railway network as it could showcase its latest technology.

If the speed is upgraded to 150 km per hour, then the Jakarta-Surabaya sections could be covered in five hours.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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