Editor's note: Xia Fangbo, a special commentator for CGTN, is a lecturer at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy of Beijing Foreign Studies University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

As the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway marks its third anniversary, its real value lies not only in delivering an international cooperation project, but in turning a corridor once obstructed by congestion and distance into one with a predictable travel time, more mobility and greater opportunities for local development.

The railway, Southeast Asia’s first bullet train system and a flagship Belt and Road Initiative project connecting Indonesia’s capital Jakarta with its Bandung area, still needs to develop its station area, feeder connections and long-term operating returns as three years is not a long time in the life of a high-speed railway. However, it has already brought changes to the daily lives of Indonesians.

Travel time has been dramatically reshaped. Stretching over 140 kilometers and operating at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour, it has cut travel duration between Jakarta and Bandung from more than three hours to 46 minutes. For businesspeople, same-day return trips, meetings and errands have become feasible. For students, families and tourists, a weekend journey no longer means spending hours caught in traffic. Speed is not an abstract technical parameter; it is a practical condition that lets people plan work, consumption, family visits and leisure better.

By July 12, 2026, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, locally known as Whoosh, had carried more than 16. million passengers, operated 52,730 passenger services, and recorded more than 8.02 million safe train-kilometers. Daily services increased from 14 at the outset to 62, while the single-day passenger record reached 26,700. All this indicates the railway has moved beyond novelty-driven ridership and become an intercity transport option with stable demand.

Reliability is central to the value of public transport. In the first half of this year, 10,574 of 10,640 Whoosh services departed on schedule, producing a departure punctuality rate of 99.4%. The significance of this figure lies not only in technology and management, but in helping passengers organize meetings, connections, school schedules and return journeys around a dependable timetable.

A passenger traveling between Jakarta and Bandung, who gave his name only as Bobby, told Indonesia's ANTARA News Agency that he could work on his laptop during the smooth and comfortable ride. Another passenger, Eka, cited the spacious waiting area, free WiFi, drinking water and charging facilities as key reasons for choosing Whoosh. These individual interviews are a reminder that a railway is ultimately judged by whether people can travel conveniently, safely and in time.

The railway is also reshaping the relationship between the areas along the route and the two metropolitan centers with residential, commercial and tourism development around the stations. The Summarecon development area near the Tegalluar Station in Bandung has become a commercial hub. According to data supplied by the developer in 2026, the area receives more than 1 million new visitors each month, about one-quarter of them from outside Bandung.

The vitality of the "Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail economic belt" is especially visible among small and micro businesses. By August this year, 29 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises were operating around the four Whoosh stations. Their businesses range from food and beverage services to retail and local products. For these merchants, a station is an entry point for displaying products, reaching customers from other regions and connecting to wider supply chains.

Passenger flows also support tourism. Statistics Indonesia reported that 69,874 foreign visitors entered West Java through Whoosh stations between January and May 2026. In May alone, the number reached 17,523. During the same period, the occupancy rate of star-rated hotels in West Java rose to 48.21%.

While these developments cannot be credited to the railway alone, they show it has become an important gateway to West Java's tourism economy. The increase in passenger numbers drives not only ticket sales, but also consumption at restaurants, hotels, retail outlets, feeder services and tourism destinations along the corridor. The dispersed opportunities for consumption, employment and services are being reconnected along the railway.

Its green value also deserves attention. Powered by electricity, the railway offers replacing part of private-car travel with a higher-capacity mode of transport. A study by the University of Indonesia found that Whoosh emits approximately 6.9 grams of carbon dioxide per passenger-kilometer, compared with 12.7 grams for private vehicles–a reduction of about 45.7%. While electrified rail is not automatically "zero-emission," it has created a practical path for reducing reliance on road transport, easing congestion and promoting lower-carbon mobility along the Jakarta-Bandung corridor.

The railway is also boosting local capability for its sustainable development. Whoosh operations have been supported jointly by Chinese and Indonesian teams while steadily moving toward localization. From April 2025, nearly three dozen Indonesian drivers and 21 Indonesian technicians have been operating all Whoosh services; the train chiefs, conductors, attendants, security staff and cleaners are also Indonesian employees.

By July 2026, Indonesian personnel had entered key positions in passenger services, train driving, equipment maintenance and safety management. What the China-Indonesia cooperation leaves behind is not only tracks, stations and trains, but also a generation of Indonesian railway professionals able to operate, maintain, dispatch and manage a high-speed rail system.

More broadly, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway demonstrates strategic alignment. China and Indonesia have committed to building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future that has regional and global influence. In their joint statement, the two countries identified the railway as a flagship infrastructure project of the Belt and Road Initiative, synergizing with Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum development strategy. 

It also aligns with Indonesia's National Long-Term Development Plan for 2025-2045 and the Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision of building a sovereign, advanced and sustainable country while improving regional connectivity, developing local economies and advancing high-quality, environmentally friendly infrastructure.

The railway is not a one-way achievement but the product of strategic alignment, joint investment, joint operation and shared benefits. It translates the idea of a community with a shared future for all from broad narrative into ordinary life: an hour saved by a passenger, an additional order received by a small business, a new skill acquired by a technician and new opportunities gained by a city through more efficient connections.

Three years on, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway has already demonstrated in tangible and sustainable ways that high-quality Belt and Road cooperation means not only railways and stations, but also convenience, jobs, green development and shared modernization. That is the real value of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway as an achievement of China-Indonesia cooperation and a calling card of the China-Indonesia community with a shared future.

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