Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway officially in operation

It is also the first overseas construction project that fully uses Chinese railway systems, technology and industrial components.

In addition to greatly cutting the journey between the two cities from over three hours to around 40 minutes, Indonesia's Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told Xinhua in an interview that the Jakarta-Bandung HSR would greatly promote regional people-to-people exchanges and drive the development sectors including tourism, employment and education.

According to KCIC, from Oct 3 to Oct 16, eight sets of HSR trains will operate between Jakarta and Bandung every day, and free tickets are available online for the public. The ticket sale is scheduled to start on Oct 17.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said free public test rides had been running for three weeks before the railway's official operation on Monday, and people's enthusiasm was clear as they directly experienced the benefit.