JAKARTA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The first box girder of Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway (HSR) project was installed on Monday, marking another progress milestone of the HSR project.
Installment of the first box girder has initiated construction of the 80-km elevated part of the 142-km Jakarta-Bandung HSR railway track.
The event held in the project's facility in Cikarang, West Java province, was witnessed by Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian, Indonesia's State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and China Indonesia Fast Train (KCIC) Managing Director Chandra Dwiputra.
After the project commences its operation, service of HSR train linking Indonesia's two highly populated cities would be the first in the country and in Southeast Asia region as well, the Chinese ambassador said.
"This is a flagship program between China and Indonesia that would further boost synergy of development between the two nations, jointly promote development strategy under the Belt and Road Initiatives. Therefore it has a very important meaning and has a deep influence," he said.
Placement of the first box girder marks a new milestone towards the project's next settlements, he added.
Rini Soemarno said that works in the project's elevated track section represents the best example of cooperation between China and Indonesia in the HSR project.
"The sub-structure part, including the pillars, are built by Indonesia's construction firm of Wijaya Karya (Wika), while the box girders are built by PowerChina Sinohydro. This is the best partnership that we should tap the benefit from," the minister said, adding that Indonesia has a lot of things that can be learned from the project.
Citing the placement of gigantic box girder that weighs 720 tons and the breakthrough of a HSR tunnel in Walini, she said those unprecedented milestone events were historical in Indonesia that can inspire Indonesian people.
Over 2,000 box girder slabs would be required to construct the HSR project's elevated railway track, KCIC Managing Director Chandra Dwiputra said, adding that the elevated track section would represent some 60 percent of the project's 142-km route.
Completion of overall Jakarta-Bandung HSR train project is expected by 2021. After being put into commercial service, the travel time between the two cities would be significantly slashed from the existing over 3 hours to 40 minutes.
