The contract forms part of an engineering, procurement and construction contract awarded to a consortium of Indonesian and Chinese companies on April 4 by the Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC) joint venture. On the same day, the High Speed Railway Contract Consortium (HSRCC) signed a 50-year design-build-maintain-operate concession with KCIC.

The $US 5.5bn project is being financed 75% by China Development Bank, with the KCIC organising the remaining 25%.

The new line will reduce the journey time between Jakarta and Bandung to around 40 minutes, compared with around three hours on the existing 173km 1067mm-gauge line.

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