Whoosh And Price Of Speed

One year after its grand opening, the Whoosh High-Speed ​​Railway has transformed from a symbol of pride into a national economic time bomb. The project is being run by the PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) consortium, a partnership between an Indonesian state-owned enterprise and a Chinese railway company.

As reported in numerous media outlets, controversy arose because construction costs ballooned from an initial estimate of around US$6.07 billion to over US$7.2 billion. As a result, as many have reported, the government was forced to provide guarantees for KCIC's debt, despite initially promising not to burden the state.

PT KCIC is a joint venture between PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI) and Beijing Yawan HSR Co. Ltd. PSBI consists of PT KAI (Persero) with 58.53 percent ownership, PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) with 33.36 percent ownership, PT Jasa Marga (Persero) with 7.08 percent ownership, and PTPN VIII with 1.03 percent ownership. The total debt for the Whoosh High-Speed ​​Train project now stands at approximately US$7.2 billion, or Rp116 trillion.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa emphasized that the state will not bear this debt. "This debt must be paid from dividends from state-owned enterprises managed by Danantara, not from state funds," he emphasized. This is because the Whoosh High-Speed ​​Train is a business-to-business project. The Ministry of Finance and BPI Danantara Indonesia are currently evaluating the funding scheme.

The Problematic Legacy of the Jokowi Era

The Whoosh problem is nothing new. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment under President Jokowi, admitted that the project "has been problematic from the start." From planning to financing, everything has deviated from the ideal path. "I accept that the project is rotten. Then we try to fix it, we audit it, and the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP)," he said at the event "One Year of the Prabowo-Gibran Government." Meanwhile, Mahfud MD, former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, also alluded to alleged markups in material procurement and construction and requested that the findings be reported to law enforcement.

President Jokowi previously asserted that the Whoosh High-Speed ​​Train project would not burden the state. In fact, the loan from the China Development Bank (CDB) actually carries an interest rate of 3.8 percent with a 35-year term. "Jokowi promised this project would not result in losses, but now we know that's impossible," said Agus Pambagio, a public policy observer, as reported in several media outlets.

A Time Bomb for State-Owned Enterprises

PT KAI President Director Bobby Rasyidin called the Whoosh debt a "time bomb for KAI." KAI, as the holder of nearly 60 percent of the shares, bears the risk of principal and interest payments.

Interest expenses are estimated to reach IDR 2 trillion per year, while ticket revenues are below target. The late economist Faisal Basri even said the project "will not recoup its investment until the end of the world."

Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, while still Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, also acknowledged that even in the best-case scenario, the Whoosh High-Speed ​​Train would only recoup its investment in 40 years. With passenger occupancy below 50 percent, this projection is difficult to achieve.

The latest KCIC data shows a daily record of 26,770 passengers in June 2025, and total passengers reaching 12 million by October 2025. Although this increase is still below the target of 29,000 passengers per day.

Dony Oskaria, Chief Operating Officer of BPI Danantara Indonesia, said his company is currently formulating a rescue strategy. "We are still evaluating," he said. Danantara is considering two steps: an equity injection and converting the Whoosh infrastructure into a state asset through a Public Service Agency (BLU) scheme.

The BLU scheme is considered more realistic than traditional debt restructuring. However, if funding is drawn from SOE dividends, the strategic company's cash flow could be disrupted. This would put additional pressure on the SOE's financial stability and create long-term SOE debt risks.

In an article on detik.com, Agus Pambagio compared Whoosh to Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port, which was ultimately handed over to China due to default. The similarities are striking: ballooning costs, large debt, low occupancy, and threats to economic sovereignty.

Indonesia certainly doesn't want to repeat that story. However, if governance and political courage remain unchanged, Whoosh could tread a similar path: from a project of pride to a symbol of financial dependence.

Prabowo's Leadership Test

President Prabowo Subianto now inherits a burden he did not create. How he handles it will be a measure of the integrity of his new administration. Will he be rational: with forensic audits, transparency, and thorough corrections?

Dony Oskaria emphasized that Danantara would resolve this issue carefully. "We'll sort it out," he said. But the public demands more than mere promises. They want proof that the lighthouse project will no longer be a graveyard for public money.

The name of Ignasius Jonan, the former Minister of Transportation, deserves to be remembered. From the start, he rejected this project due to weak feasibility studies, non-strategic routes, and high financial risks. Now his concerns have been confirmed. Jonan believes this project was built not out of necessity, but out of ambition.

The Whoosh High-Speed ​​Train should have been a symbol of progress. Now, it is traveling burdened with debt, bearing the sins of past management, and becoming a test of future policies.

If not rescued with common sense, the Whoosh could turn into a monument to national debt—fast on the rails, but slow in economic terms.

And amidst the political frenzy and the numbers, the public may only be able to ask: "Who is really riding the Whoosh—us, or our debt?"