Railway company adds more locomotives to transport PT BA coal
Thursday, May 31 2001 - 06:00 AM WIB
State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Eksploitasi Sumatera Selatan (KA-ESS) will add six new more locomotives to strengthen its fleet to transport the increasing amount of coal produced by state coal company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) in Southern Sumatra, Suara Karya reported on Thursday.
PT BA had been unable to increase its production due to limited train capacity to transport its coal from South Sumatra to Tarahan Port in Lampung, where the coal would be shipped to buyers.
KA-ESS spokesman Basnawi said the amount of coal transported by the railway company increased from year to year. Last year, for instance, KA-ESS transported 6.1 million tons of coal, and this year, the company expected to transport around 7.5 million tons.
He said currently, KA-ESS operates 10 chains of 43 cars per day, with capacity of 50,000 tons per car. For the transportation, the company charges Rp 25,000 (US$ = 11,400) per ton of coal. (*)