WHOOSH! Travel jakarta to bandung in 1 hour
WHAT IS THE JAKARTA BANDUNG HIGH SPEED RAIL?
It is the KCIC or Kereta Cepat Indonesia China, a collaboration between China and Indonesia. This high speed rail currently connects Jakarta to Bandung in almost one-third of the time and will be extended to other parts of Indonesia in time to come! It’s becoming very popular for the time saved and the efficient experience it provides to commuters.
01 how to get tickets
WHOOSH Website
Register for an account on the Whoosh website
Check the schedule for the train timings. The timings and where you sit determine the price. It is more expensive to travel on the weekends - with prices going up to 275k rp (at least as far as I have seen). On off-peak, prices can go down to 200k rp or even lower. There are also three different travel compartments - First Class, Business and Premium Economy.
Choose your start and end destinations. If you start in Jakarta you pick Halim station and if you choose to end in Bandung, pick Tegalluar. Padalarang is another stop on the way.
Train schedules and timings
Train ticket prices
02 HOW TO GET TO THE TRAIN STATION IN JAKARTA
Congrats! Now that you have gotten your ticket, it’s time to travel. Wherever you come from in Jakarta, head to Halim Train Station. It’s near to Halim Airport, if you’re wondering. If you’re in the center or southern sides of Jakarta, it takes around 25-40 minutes depending on traffic so plan your time well.
NOTE: If you’re coming from Bandung into Jakarta, you enter the same train station as the three hour KAI train, which is Gambir.
03 THE JOURNEY
Getting into the station was quite a surprise, felt a tad bit like the drop off for a cruise center check in. The space was clean and even though there were people, it wasn’t overcrowded or swamped. You had to do a bag scan to enter.
NOTE: Food (lunch, not coffees) is outside the security clearance areas. So eat before coming in. There is a lot of food on level 2 of the Halim station, so go up to the level 2, don’t go past the bag scanners, instead TURN AROUND to the outside, non-airconditioned section of the building, that’s where the food stalls are situated at.
We got through the security clearance soon after lunch, and waited for ticket checking. The train was 1pm and ticket checks were 12.45pm so that’s around 10 minutes to clear everything. Don’t be late, the line moves very fast and trains will leave on time.
NOTE: You don’t need paper tickets OR your passport if you got your ticket online, just prepare the QR code that was generated for you - that will be your ticket to enter the High Speed Rail as well as the feeder train to connect you from Padalarang to Bandung.
The inside of the train was clean and as expected, very new. Your seats are assigned to you and there’s space for luggage overhead. We just got comfortable and it was already time to leave.
There is a running signboard overhead that tells you the current speed. It was a lot of fun. At the end they also announce that you’re heading through a 4.4km tunnel which is the longest dug tunnel for the route.
04 the route and where to drop (If you’re heading to bandung)
Feeder train from Padalarang into Bandung
Halim to Padalarang - 25 minutes
Padalarang station - there will be an announcement that the train will stop for 3 minutes, you pick your stuff and quickly exit, follow the line which will walk toward the feeder service. Connect to the service by scanning THE SAME QR CODE which you used to board the first train. You may not find seats on this train as it’s quite crowded (from our experience at 3pm). (Picture for reference: the connecting feeder train is in neon green)
Find this sign if you’re lost - this is the gantry to enter the feeder train section.
The inside of a feeder train connecting Padalarang to Bandung
Cimahi station is next. People will get off and there’s a bit of space to move.
Bandung station is last - get off the train here.
Total time taken: 90 minutes
Ticket checks 12:45
Board the train 13:02
Padalarang at 13:32
Change to the feeder by 13:40
Reached Bandung 14:05, exit the station 14:15
05 COMMENTS AND REVIEW
People have commented a couple of things here and there. Here’s what we think.
Issue 1: The train doesn’t start from the centre of Jakarta, and neither does it really stop in the middle of Bandung.
Based on our experience travelling, while this is somewhat true, we feel that had we gone to Gambir (the train station in the center of Jakarta), we would have dealt with a bad jam there anyway, which would also have cost us precious time. Ironically because Halim was further out from the center, we had a fuss-free ride to the station. At the same time, though Padalarang isn’t exactly the middle of Bandung, the feeder service provided excellent and efficient connection. Even with the connection, we took 1 hour from start to end. That is a huge improvement over the three hour train rides normally.
Issue 2: The ticket prices are more expensive.
Yes, that’s factually true. However, one must measure the extra cost against the time saved. Typically when we took the three hour KAI train, if your train was at 1pm, here’s how the day would have potentially gone:
11-11.30am: leave the house to beat the jam
12pm: reach Gambir train station
1pm - 4pm: train ride
4.15: disembark and exit station by 4:30pm
total time taken: almost 4.5-5 hours.
This means an entire half workday is gone. With the Whoosh it felt like you could have lunch AND dinner, and complete work when you got to Bandung. That saves so much time and energy (energy being the important thing here, given how humid and sticky the weather is like in Jakarta, too)
FINAL VERDICT: Would we take the Whoosh again?
ABSOLUTELY YES.
I initially said we’d take it once to try it out, however, if I could afford it, I think we would definitely be taking it more!
