According to Pandjaitan, the responsibility for the project's hold-up lies with the Indonesian side, which has not yet completed the presidential regulation regarding the development of the high-speed railway.
Once the regulation is completed, he said, Indonesia and China can start conducting their joint feasibility study on the project.
He also asked Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Djiwandono, to directly oversee the formulation of the presidential regulation.
"The presidential regulation must be issued immediately because China is waiting, if it is ok then the joint study (can be carried out)," he told ANTARA Beijing on Thursday.
The Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train extension project has been included in the network development program through the Minister of Transportation's Decree Number KM 296 of 2020 concerning the National Railway Master Plan.
He emphasized that the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train must be better than the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project, formally known as Whoosh, which, he claimed, still has many shortcomings.
According to the minister, the project needs to be extended to Surabaya, considering the ever-growing number of Whoosh passengers, which reaches 17 thousand on regular days.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, revealed the need to further study the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project—as a mega infrastructure project that must be designed carefully.
Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi emphasized that the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project should not burden the State Budget.
The government is also reviewing various rail-based transportation options for the high-speed train project, including medium-speed trains in addition to high-speed trains.
The final decision will be made by taking market absorption and investment feasibility into account.
The Ministry of Transportation is also considering a plan to build a semi-fast train based on a study conducted by Japan earlier.
The Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train is an extension of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train route.
The project will cut travel time from Jakarta to Surabaya from 10 hours to 3.5 hours by train. The government earlier planned to make the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train fare more economical than that of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train or Whoosh.
PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) is currently preparing a feasibility study on the potential of the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train.
There are at least three high-speed train extension routes to Surabaya that have been considered, including the southern route, the central route, and the northern route.
The southern route of Bandung-Surabaya runs through Kroya and Yogyakarta as far as 629.5 km with 13 stations that can be reached in 180 minutes.
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Translator: Desca Lidya Natalia, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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