Tanjung Enim railway project to begin in November

State-owned coal mining company PT Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) will soon start developing a 307-kilometer railway for the transportation of coal from its mines in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra to the coal terminal in Lampung.

The company?s President Director Sukrisno said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the groundbreaking for the railway project would carried out as soon as the transportation ministry issued its approval for the project.

?We hope the project could be realized in November, this year,? he said, adding that the construction of the coal railroad, which would cost about US$1.3 billion, was scheduled for completion in three years. ?So, we hope the railroad can be operated in 2013.

He said that the railway would have the capacity to transport 20 million tons of coal a year. ?With the operation of the railway, PTBA will be able to increase its production to about 40 million a year,? he added.

Sukrisno said that the coal mining company would form a joint venture with state owned railway company PT Kereta Api and Trans Pacific China Railway Engineering to build and operate the railway.

He said that PTBA would provide about 30 percent of the funding for the project, while China would provide the remaining 70 percent. (*)