A complete guide to Whoosh, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway. Station guides, buying tickets, what to expect onboard, and how to get to the stations.
The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway is the first high-speed railway in Southeast Asia, with a top travel speed of 350 km/h. After years of construction delays and cost blowouts, the railway officially opened in October 2023.
Whoosh (the official name of the railway service) travels from Jakarta to Bandung in 30 minutes. You will need to allow for travel time to each station, and you also have get off at the right station as there is no Bandung Station.
Index
Map of Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway
Whoosh stations
Halim
Karawang
Padalarang
Tegalluar
Onboard Whoosh
Whoosh train speed and travel times
How to get to the stations
Jakarta to Halim
Padalarang to Bandung
Tegalluar to Bandung
How to buy Whoosh tickets
Future extension to Surabaya
Map of Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway
Stations and public transport options referenced in this guide are shown on this map.
[View map of Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.]
Whoosh stations
There are four stations on the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.
Halim
Halim is the station for Jakarta on the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.
[Halim Statiob in Jakarta.]
The first thing to do here is to buy or claim your ticket (details in the buying tickets section). If there is a problem with your ticket or you need a refund you can go to the ticket enquiry office here.
There is a left luggage office if you want to store baggage here..
I was surprised to find how many shops were operating at the station. I was comparing with Bangkok’s new mega station that barely has any shops.
Halim has an Indomaret, which is one of the largest convenience store chains in Indoneisa.
There is a Starbucks at Halim Station.
There are also some fast food chains at Halim.
As an added bonus, there are many cats that have made themselves at home in Halim.
Baggage is screened before entering the boarding area upstairs. It’s quick and you don’t need to allow as much time as at an airport.
The departure area has a model of the train.
The departure area is spacious, and there are some last-minute cafes in here. The station is only for the high-speed railway, so the departure board shows trains for the high-speed railway.
The platforms are on the upper level, and there is a great ceiling that makes you feel like you are about to take a special trip.
You will have enough time to take some photos of the outside of the train before it departs.
Karawang
Karawang is not open yet, so trains are operating non-stop from Halim to Padalarang. Karawang has been built to allow non-stop trains to pass through in the future.
Padalarang
Padalarang is one of two stations in the Bandung Metropolitan Area. If you are going to Bandung City then you must use this station.
After stopping at Padalarang, the train continues to Tegalluar.
Tegalluar
Tegalluar is the last stop of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.
The only reason to go to Tegalluar is if you live near here of if you are a train nerd that wants to visit every station on the high-speed railway.
As with Halim and Padalarang, Tegalluar is a grand station that is built to impress. Not many passengers get off here, so it might be years before it feels like a bustling travel hub.
Tegalluar is surrounded by rice fields, but this will no doubt developed into a new urban area in the future.
Onboard Whoosh
Upon boarding there is a luggage rack for large bags.
Economy seats are arranged in 2×3 format. You can pick your seat when you book the ticket, so no need to worry about getting the dreaded single middle seat in each row.
Probably the most important feature is that there is plenty of leg room, even in economy.
The seats have power outlets, but there was no wifi when I went.
The seats are reversible, so all of the seats are arranged to face the direction of travel.
The toilets have the aircraft-style vacuum toilets, though the bathroom is far more spacious than an aircraft toilet.
There is a food and drinks menu in the seat pocket.
Food and drinks are available in the cafe carriage. I like that they put the location of the carriage on the menu. I have been on so many trains where I don’t know which direction the cafe is in.
There are seats and tables in the cafe section. The trip is so quick that you may barely get time to enjoy a coffee in the cafe.
The train travels through the urban sprawl of Greater Jakarta. The scenery changes in West Java province to that of rice fields and mountains.
[Whooshing by the stunning scenery of somewhere in West Java.]
I was amused to hear the slogan/catchphrase of Whoosh. I wasn’t paying attention to the onboard announcements in Indonesian, but I heard what I thought was “puss puss puss” like when you call a cat. I heard the announcement later on, and it was “Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh Yes!” said as fast as calling a cat (or fast as a high-speed train). They use this slogan to sign off from an announcement.
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Yes!]
I have travelled on high-speed railways in Japan, China, and France. And now here I am, amazed that I’m on a high-speed railway in Indonesia.
Whoosh train speed and travel times
Whoosh has a top operating speed of 350 km/h, making it the fastest train in Southeast Asia. There is a speed dispay in every carrriage so you can keep track of how fast the train is going.
Travel time from Halim to Padalarang is 30 minutes.
Travel time from Halim to Tegalluar is 47 minutes.
How to get to the stations
The stations are far outside the city centres, but they have been integrated into the rail transit networks.
Jakarta to Halim
Halim Station is connected to Central Jakarta via the Jabodebek LRT.
The Jabodebek LRT starts at Dukuh Atas, and it’s connected by a pedestrian bridge to Sudirman Station. From here you can walk to the Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link station at BNI City.
This is a useful station location if you are staying in the Thamrin/Sudirman Road area of Central Jakarta (one of the best areas to stay in Jakarta).
[Walkway from Dukuh Atas LRT to Sudirman Station.]
The Jabodebek LRT has two branches, so you need to be on the Bekasi Line when you board at Dukuh Atas.
At Halim LRT there is a connected walkway to Halim HSR Station.
Padalarang to Bandung
The Padalarang Whoosh station is next to the Padalarang KAI railway station. A special shuttle train (KCJB Feeder Train) runs between Padalarang and Bandung. This is a free shuttle for exclusive use of Whoosh passengers.
[KCJB Feeder Train in Bandung.]
The Padalarang Whoosh station has signs leading towards the shuttle train.
If you aren’t a passenger on Whoosh then you can get the commuter train from Padalarang to Bandung.
Coming from Bandung Station, there are special entrances for the feeder train. You can access the feeder train from the north and south entrance of Bandung Station.
Tegalluar to Bandung
Tegalluar is to the east of Bandung City. If you are going to Bandung then you should get off at Padalarang as there is nothing out here yet.
If you end up at Tegalluar and need to get to Bandung, there is a shuttle bus service to Bandung Station. There is a ticket booth that sells tickets, so buy a ticket first. The bus takes over an hour to get to Bandung Station, so that will deflate the joy of your journey. You will see why Bandung’s traffic is so legendary (in a bad way) and why they want to build an LRT system in Bandung.
How to buy Whoosh tickets
Tickets can be bought online at the official website at https://ticket.kcic.co.id/.
I had no problem buying a ticket with a foreign credit card.
You will need to get an official ticket at the station using your booking number.
[Ticket machines at Halim Station.]
Go to one of the ticket kiosks to claim your ticket.
The tickets are compact and they make for a better souvenir than a printed-out ticket from the internet.
Tickets can also be bought at the station. There were many spare seats when I went, but I didn’t want to come all the way to Jakarta to find out it was sold out, so I booked online for peace of mind.
Future extension to Surabaya
There are plans to extend the high-speed railway to Surabaya. This will be years away from happening, if it happens at all. If you are interested in keeping track, subscribe to the Future Southeast Asia Newsletter to keep updated on transport development in Southeast Asia.
This train travel review is part of my Southeast Asia railways guide.
