Indonesia Forms High-Speed Rail Committee to Tackle Whoosh Train Challenges

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is moving to establish a National Committee for High-Speed Rail, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) said on Tuesday, following a meeting with Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. AHY said the committee will be tasked with addressing financial and structural issues related to the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Train (JBHST), known commercially as Whoosh, as well as overseeing the broader development of high-speed rail projects across the country. “We are in the process of forming a national committee for high-speed rail because it is important to take both strategic and tactical measures,” AHY told reporters at the Finance Ministry office in Jakarta on January 20, 2026. Beyond resolving outstanding debt and financial restructuring issues surrounding Whoosh, the committee will also coordinate plans to expand high-speed rail to other regions, including a proposed extension of the Jakarta–Bandung line to Surabaya in East Java. AHY confirmed that his ministry will serve as the coordinating body for the initiative. The committee will involve multiple ministries, with the Finance Ministry playing a key role in budgetary planning and fiscal oversight. AHY said the goal is to ensure that future projects are carefully planned and executed, drawing lessons from the experience of the Jakarta–Bandung line. “We will study what has been done on the Jakarta–Bandung project. Any shortcomings will become lessons for future development,” he said. As part of the process, the government plans to conduct comparative studies with countries that have successfully developed high-speed rail networks. AHY also said he is preparing draft government regulations to provide a legal framework not only for the Jakarta–Bandung project but also for high-speed rail development in other regions, although details have yet to be disclosed. President Prabowo Subianto has previously expressed interest in extending the high-speed rail network to East Java. However, AHY emphasized that the government’s immediate priority remains the financial restructuring of Whoosh. Separately, the Ministry of Transportation has said that plans for a high-speed rail line to Surabaya are still under evaluation. Arif Anwar, Director of Railway Traffic and Transportation at the ministry, said the feasibility study has not yet been finalized. “There is a directive from the President to move in that direction, but we are still assessing it because the feasibility study has not been completed,” Arif said earlier.