JAKARTA, Oct 2 Reuters Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday inaugurated a 7.3 billion highspeed railway connecting the country39;s capital with the city of Bandung, a Chinabacked project that has been marred with problems.

The 142kilometre 88.23mile railway, one of the president39;s flagship infrastructure projects and part of China39;s Belt and Road Initiative, has faced problems ranging from land procurement issues, pandemicrelated delays and ballooning costs.

Monday39;s launch for the bullet train named Whoosh is far behind an original target of operations in 2019.

The name is inspired by the sound of a rushing high speed train, Jokowi, as the president is popularly called, said during the launch.

The maximum operating speed of the train could reach 350 kilometres per hour 217 mph, Jokowi said, calling this the modernisation of our mass transportation that is environmentally friendly.

Luhut Pandjaitan, a senior minister overseeing the project, said at the launch that free trial rides on the bullet train, which have been under way since the second week of September, will be extended and ticket prices will be implemented in midOctober.

A consortium of Indonesian and Chinese companies built the railway.

Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman; Writing by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Gayatri Suroyo and Gerry Doyle

Source Reuters