Editor's note: On the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), let's take the railways in BRI partner countries and explore the projects as well as the local sights and sounds. In this article of the "Railways Along the Belt and Road" series, we focus on Indonesia and its latest high-speed railway. 

Galloping at a lighting pace of 350 kilometers an hour, shuttling people between capital Jakarta and metropolis Bandung within a mere 45 minutes from what used to be 3.5 hours, a symbol of fruits that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises for its partners, "Whoosh" has recently been launched as Southeast Asia's first high-speed railway in Indonesia.

The 142.3-km long high-speed line has four stations and connects Jakarta and Bandung, the West Java provincial capital and a popular tourist destination. It is revolutionizing connections between Indonesia's two metropolitan regions: Greater Jakarta, which has around 32 million residents, and Bandung, which houses over 8 million people. 

As a flagship project that synergizes the BRI and Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) strategy, the $7.3 billion railway is also the first overseas construction project that fully uses Chinese railway systems, technology and industrial components. 

Infrastructural connectivity is one of the top priorities of the BRI and this is not the first time that China and Indonesia have built a mega-infrastructure like the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. A few years ago, the two countries jointly built Suramadu Bridge, the longest cross-sea bridge not only in Indonesia, but whole of Southeast Asia. 

But why does this bridge linking Java and Madura matter? Before the bridge was built, people took long hours waiting for a ferry to travel between the islands. After its opening, the bridge has cut transportation time from several hours to just 10 minutes.

In a decade of its inception, the BRI has helped improve people's livelihood in Indonesia. 

Let's take infrastructural connectivity as an example. During the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR, a large number of Indonesians were recruited. The project created 51,000 local job opportunities and trained 45,000 Indonesian employees, according to China Railway.

Moreover, like most projects involving infrastructural development, Whoosh is reaping fruits that go beyond shorter travel times. Travelling along this railway, one can also find the indigenous Java coffee, which is very popular in Europe and America. 

As market potential expands beyond the region due to better infrastructural connectivity, more countries can now get a taste of the Indonesian specialty being sent out via Surabaya Port, one of the country's main hubs for coffee production and export.

Furthermore, with more inbound investment and technological support, Indonesia's rich mineral reserves like nickel are being used in batteries to facilitate the global green energy transition. In 2022, GAIKINDO data showed that "Made in Indonesia" Chinese Wuling new energy vehicles ranked first in Indonesia, with 78 percent of EV market share. 

Perhaps that's why at the inaugural Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in 2017, Indonesian President Joko Widodo praised the BRI as not just empty talk but about actually building something. 

With the commercial operation of Jakarta-Bandung HSR, a new economic corridor along the route is taking shape. And that's what is happening right now along the China-Laos Railway and the planned China-Thailand high-speed railway, which will integrate the Southeast Asian countries into a broader railway interconnection network and bring benefits to the locals and beyond.