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 Bekasi Line on 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 Line 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.
what really impresses me is the fact that they seem to have planned not just the railway but access and egress from the start . One can only hope that their counterparts in certain other parts of SEA learn the lesson ( and of course those building new airports)
Yes it’s impressive. I was initially disappointed when the project started to see how far out the stations are, but there is no way they would have been be able to clear a path into the city centre. Building the station next to an established station was a great move, and I’m amazed that the Jakarta LRT was built to meet it. I’m looking at the new airports at Phnom Penh and HCMC, where they are talking of building their light rails after the airports are built.
Hi James,
Good info. There’s also a Whoosh app which one can book and pay and check out the Padalarang/Bandung Feeder times.
The escalators in Padalarang and the moving walkways in Bandung are very slow and narrow, which are the only ways to move to and from the transiting platforms, so there’s a few passenger bottlenecks.
Halim, as you know, also has a domestic airport which services most of Sumatra and Java as well as Kalimantan, Denpasar and Lombok.
I’ve used Whoosh a few times to access Bekasi, east Jakarta and south Jakarta area.
Door to door Whoosh saves around 30 minutes to an hour compared to the normal train or mini bus (called ‘Travel’ here). But there are more transit points involved. The key for many people moving between Bandung and Jakarta is where in Jakarta they need to get to (or leave from), because Jakarta is so huge and the traffic issues. Whereas, the ‘Travel’ services can get you to many many many specific parts of Jakarta, centre, north, south, east, west, even direct to the CGK airport. Fares for Travel can be like 100-175K (A$10 – 17). The downside for the Travel is that you’re on the road and all the vagaries that come with road travel here. Good days 2 to 2.5 hours, bad days 3-4 hours. Companies include Cititrans, Jackal, Daytrans etc etc.
For locals driving is still very viable, tolls are cheap A$8 each way, and charge per vehicle not per person, do the sums for a family of 4 or 6 or 8 compared to Whoosh, regular train or Travel, fuel for a round trip maybe A$25-30.
My point above is that Whoosh has it’s place in the mix, especially if you’re solo and what you’re doing in Jakarta is near Halim, but many punters use alternatives as well for a variety of reasons.
Thanks M
Thanks Mig, those are excellent points. I will add the app booking.
The distance from Halim from within Jakarta was something that I was thinking of, and it would be good to see a door-to-door comparison from different points in Jakarta
HI James – Just finished reading your post on WHOOSH and must congratulate you on this excellent, practical example of truly useful information. I will be sharing it with many. I also will be in touch with you shortly about a new group tour program for Sumatra and Java which just happens to include the trip from Jakarta to Bandung in the itinerary 🙂 Cheers and thanks again. Douglas.
Thanks Douglas, I appreciate the feedback. Java is a great place to travel by rail, so the HSR would be a great addition to a tour!
great naration. I’m impressed with your detailed info. thank you so much. it really help as we are planning a trip to Jakarta n bandung n Wil definitely take the whoosh. thanks again and may peace be with you.
Hi James, I was just studying your great and helpful explanations as we plan to take the Whoosh next year. I just wonder how far in advance the Whoosh ticket can be booked from the website as it seems that is is a limited time frame of 2-3 weeks available ?
Kind regards,
Michaela
Hi Michaela, yes that is about the time frame for booking. I made a calendar note to book within 3 weeks. Cheers!
Hi James, great information. Just to confirm, I need to go and try the bandros tourist buses, what is the best whoosh stop and which stop do I get off to use the bandros buses? Thanks a lot