Quo Vadis Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Train
The existence of a cost overrun certainly haunts project completion. On the other hand, the ability of SOEs to resolve complex financial aspects is also limited. So, Government in 2021 issued Presidential Regulation 93/2021 as a replacement for Presidential Decree 107/2015. In essence, this new Presidential Regulation provides an opportunity for the government to use APBN funds to support the completion of this project.
The stagnation of project progress due to the above requires a breakthrough effort. Moreover, in calculating the cost overrun, it is estimated that the additional investment required is US$ 1.6 billion. So that the investment value required for this project could range from US$ 7.6 – 8.0 billion. Of course, CDB as a creditor thinks this project will have an increased risk, so CDB asks shareholders to increase their capital contribution.
The government has decided to provide a PMN of Rp 4 trillion to KAI as the lead of the BUMN consortium. This figure is certainly still far from the requirements needed for project completion. Other efforts are needed, including efforts to relax creditor banks whose diplomacy has been carried out by the President during a visit to China at the end of July 2022.
In the future, of course, other problems will arise in the operation of this fast train. Apart from the investment cost of US$ 8 billion, when the train is operating, it will also need subsidies, because the selling price of train tickets is quite expensive, it is not necessarily able to attract passengers massively so the occupancy rate can be quite high. The selling price of train tickets proposed by the Ministry of Transportation is IDR 250 thousand – IDR 300 thousand. Therefore, other income outside the fare box is needed which is quite significant, such as commercial use of outdoor media, development of property areas around the station stops (TOD), as well as various other business opportunities.
