Jakarta, Jun 21 (IANS): With the completion of the No. 2 Tunnel of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) on Tuesday, the construction of all 13 tunnels on the whole line was finished, laying a solid foundation for the project and opening to traffic in June 2023.

The No. 2 Tunnel is located in Purwakarta county, West Java province, with a total length of 1,052 metres and a maximum buried depth of 53.6 metres, which was one of the most difficult projects on the whole line, reports Xinhua news agency.

The combination of clay, soft mud, sandstone and thin covering soil easily led to deformation, landslides and other problems, thus causing high safety risk during the construction.

At present, all tunnels and culverts on the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway have been completed, as well as over 90 per cent of the civil works of subgrade, bridges and stations.

The overall construction has entered the track-laying stage.

With a design speed of 350 km per hour, the high-speed railway will cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java province, from more than three hours to around 40 minutes.