VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would submit the result of its study on Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train by the end of April, postponed from its initial schedule in March.

"The study conducted by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BBPT) and JICA has entered its final stage. We hope that we could finalize the study in March and JICA could submit its study in April," the Director General of Railway of the Transportation Ministry,  Zulfikri said here on Tuesday.

He stated that the ministry would synchronize the results of the two studies, especially on investment value.

"Now, the amount is still changing, because it is not a small investment," he noted.

The ministry, according to Zulfikri, is still evaluating the plan to include foreign private firms in the project, in this case Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

"We are still sorting out the scheme we could offer, the construction, maintenance, or investment in facility, and its operation," he remarked.

However, the involvement of JBIC in the project would not change the initial cooperation scheme from government-to-government to business-to-business scheme.

"This is because the initiation from Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a G-to-G cooperation," he added.

The Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed train project would need a total investment of Rp60 trillion (US$4.4 billion), including Rp20 trillion ($1.5 billion) for construction of 900 level crossings. Both governments have agreed to use narrow railway (gauge 1,067 millimeters) and standard railway (gauge 1,431 millimeters) to adjust with the land characteristic in Java, which is already crowded. The high-speed train would cut short Jakarta-Surabaya travel time from 9 hours to 5.5 hours. ( antara )