KAI to build double track-line to boost coal transportation

State owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) is building a double-track line to support state owned coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA)?s plan to boost production at its coal mine in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra up to 22.7 million tons in 2014 from about 13 million tonnes last year, Kompas reported on Tuesday.

?In the first stage, we are building a 20 kilometer-double track line from Station X6 in Prabumulih to Station Niru. We hope this segment can be completed in November 2011,? KAI?s senior official Budi Noviantoro said in Palembang on Monday.

The second 20-km segment of the double-track railway is currently under preparation. ?It will be tendered this year so that its construction could be commenced next year,? he said.

KAI has appointed state-owned construction firms PT Wijaya Karya and PT Hutama Karya to build the double track, he said.

The construction of the double-track line is part of the company?s project to expand its railway transportation system from the Tanjung Enim coal mine to the Tarahan coal terminal in Lampung. The project is carried out in cooperation with PT Bukit Asam.

At present, with the existing single track, PTBA can only transport 13 million tonnes of coal a year. When the double-track project is completed in 2014, the company can transport up to 22.7 million tons a year from its Tanjung Enim coal mine. (*)