Chinese Premier Takes Test Ride on Indonesia’s New High-Speed Railway

What’s new: Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a test ride Wednesday as Indonesia finally completed a long-delayed high-speed rail line built with Chinese assistance.

The 40-kilometer segment of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line links Jakarta with suburban Karawang. The Jakarta-Karawang segment is part of a 142-kilometer railway linking the capital with the tourism city of Bandung. It will cut travel time to around 40 minutes from more than 3 hours. Commercial operation of the line is set to start Oct. 1.