UK Rail Mission to Indonesia Highlights Opportunities for Integrated Railway and Urban Development

Date : Aug 2026

UK Rail

Urban Transport

Indonesia

JAKARTA - The United Kingdom and Indonesia are strengthening cooperation in railway and urban transport development, with the UK Government bringing together 15 leading UK organisations in Jakarta as part of the wider UK Rail Mission to Indonesia and the UK–Indonesia Rail Partnership Forum 2026.

Held on 29 July 2026, the Forum brought together organisations representing different areas of the railway sector, including engineering, consultancy, architecture, rail systems and equipment, financing, and transit-oriented development (TOD). As part of the wider mission, UK participants engaged with Indonesian stakeholders to explore opportunities arising from Indonesia's continued development of railway and urban transport infrastructure.

BDP, a UK-headquartered global multidisciplinary design practice and one of the key companies within ID&E Group’s Urban & Spatial Development Business, represented the wider ID&E Group as part of the official UK delegation.

The UK brings extensive experience across railway planning, engineering, design, operations, systems, services and financing. Through the UK Rail Mission, this expertise was brought together with Indonesia's continued investment in modern, integrated and sustainable railway and urban transport systems.

The discussions covered a range of opportunities in Indonesia's railway sector, including urban rail development, stations and interchanges, transit-oriented development, supporting infrastructure and financing. The Surabaya Urban Rail Project was among the opportunities highlighted during the wider UK–Indonesia railway discussions, alongside broader opportunities across Indonesia.

BDP and Nippon Koei – Connecting Transport, Place and Development

BDP is a UK-headquartered global multidisciplinary design practice and part of the ID&E Group. For more than 60 years, BDP has solved complex problems and created innovative, people-centred places through architecture, urban design, engineering and the wider built environment.

Transport is an important part of this work. BDP designs sustainable transport hubs, stations, interchanges and transit-oriented districts rooted in local culture and context. By prioritising passenger experience, BDP creates accessible, safe and welcoming places that encourage low-carbon and active travel, enhance connectivity, support regeneration, attract investment and improve quality of life.

In Indonesia, BDP has supported clients across transport-related masterplanning, port masterplanning (such as Patamban Port below), urban regeneration, energy and BIM advisory (implementation of BIM for Asahan 3 HEPP development). Relevant experience includes the Scoping Study for Transit-Oriented Development on the MRT Jakarta North-South Line at Kota, led by BDP in partnership with Gleeds, with specialist input from Colliers and collaboration with Nippon Koei and local ID&E Group company PT. Indokoei International.

This existing collaboration provides a strong foundation for further work in Indonesia. BDP connects transport infrastructure with place, passenger experience and value creation, while Nippon Koei brings extensive rail, transport engineering and infrastructure expertise together with a long-established presence in Indonesia. Combined with Indokoei, this gives the wider group both international capability and local delivery knowledge.

International Rail Experience

One example of this combined capability is the Dhaka Metro Line 5 North project in Bangladesh, where BDP is working with Nippon Koei on a major new metro programme. BDP's scope includes architecture, building services engineering, lighting and urban design for nine underground stations.

The project also incorporates considerations for transit-oriented development around the new metro infrastructure, illustrating how station design can form part of a wider approach to urban development. This integrated approach - bringing together rail engineering, station design, passenger experience and the surrounding urban context - reflects many of the themes discussed with Indonesian stakeholders during the mission.

Together, BDP and Nippon Koei bring complementary expertise in architecture, urban design, engineering and infrastructure development, with the ability to connect transport investment to the places, communities and economic opportunities around it.

Looking Ahead

As Indonesia continues to invest in railway networks, urban transport and transit-oriented development, the opportunity is not only to deliver new infrastructure but also to ensure that transport investment supports better-connected, more sustainable and more liveable cities.

For BDP, Nippon Koei and the wider ID&E Group, the UK Rail Mission provided an important opportunity to strengthen relationships with Indonesian transport, infrastructure and development stakeholders and to explore how our combined expertise can support this ambition. By bringing together rail and transport engineering, architecture, station and interchange design, passenger experience, transit-oriented development, urban regeneration and local delivery capability, the ID&E Group can help connect infrastructure investment with the places, communities and economic opportunities around it.