Indonesia's WHOOSH High Speed Train (Jakarta-Bandung)
Background & Route
Indonesia's Chinese-built high-speed rail service (called Whoosh) was inaugurated on 2 October 2023. I have used it about 9 or 10 times over the past three months, trying out Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class. Photos below! It now takes 46 minutes to get from Bandung to Jakarta. It used to take at least 2.5 hours on the regular train.
The plan is eventually to extend the Whoosh high-speed train all the way to Surabaya.
Tickets & Pricing
You can buy tickets here on the official website or you can download the Whoosh App. Note that both of these methods involve you registering an account with Whoosh and having an Indonesian payment method, like an Indonesian bank account. If you are a tourist, you'll need to go and physically buy a ticket at the counters at the high-speed terminals in Bandung, Padalarang or Halim in Jakarta. They have self-service ticket machines that you can switch to English. Not sure if there are plans to start selling the tickets through third-party websites like tiket.com at some stage. I hope so!
Tickets on the App & website are only sold 7 days in advance. I am not sure if you can get them further in advance in-person, as I have never done it. Prices started off as fixed Premium Economy (recently increased to 250,000Rp one-way), Business Class (450,000Rp) and First Class (600,000Rp). However, as of 3 February, they are moving to a more sensible dynamic pricing structure, and Premium Economy tickets will range in price between 150,000IDR and 250,000IDR. Not sure if they have similar plans for the Business and First Class (probably not, as they tend to be almost empty!) If the website / App is out of tickets, some additional tickets are held in reserve for walk-in purchases at the relevant train stations. It also seems to be possible to quite easily change your train time (pre-departure) at the counters if you have already purchased a ticket.
Accessing the High-Speed Rail Stations & the WHOOSH Feeder Train
The terminals for this train are in non-central locations. At the Bandung end, it starts at Tegalluar (Stasiun Kereta Cepat Tegalluar), in the south-east of Bandung. This is not a great spot to get to with public transport. Many passengers end up taking taxis or driving. The high-speed train then stops at Padalarang, in the north-west of Bandung. This is in a much more urban setting than Tegalluar and generally more easily accessible. The train then spends 26 minutes speeding over to Halim Station, which is right next to Halim Airport in south-east Jakarta. You can see the route on the map below.
There is a regular-speed green-coloured feeder train which takes passengers from Bandung Station to Padalarang Station (included in your ticket if you buy a Bandung-Halim ticket). It also stops at Cimahi Station and picks people up. Cimahi is another regular train station in the north-west of Bandung. I have never been on this feeder train, so cannot comment on the comfort levels, but I know it did crash in December 2023. The Whoosh does not currently stop at Karawang, which is part-way between Bandung and Jakarta, although we are told this is "coming soon" on the route map!
Annoyingly, at the Jakarta end, Whoosh high-speed train is not connected to the CGK airport train (RailLink). It does, however, take you to Halim train station in south Jakarta, which is right next to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (HLP). As far as I can see, there is no shuttle between Halim train station and HLP airport though. Maybe I'm wrong on this though (I've never tried to get between them)! Halim is not particularly central for Jakarta, but like many foreigners, I spend a lot of time in south Jakarta, so it works OK for me. From my observations, a large proportion of the people who get off the high-speed train at Halim then jump in a car or a taxi to get to their final destination.
Accessibility
The WHOOSH high-speed railway stations are all wheelchair accessible, and I have seen wheelchair users coming onboard om Premium Economy and then transferring to regular seats. Plenty of room behind their seats to store the folded wheelchair. There is also a large, non-functional restaurant cart on each train (presumably for when the line extends and the journey lasts longer than 46 minutes). Plenty of room here for wheelchair or mobility scooter users to strap down, although I'm not sure what the regulations are around this.
Photos From Onboard
WHOOSH High-Speed Train at Halim Station, Jakarta
Economy Seat (150-250,000 IDR)
Business Class (450,000 IDR)
First Class (600,000 IDR)