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tate-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) saw a significant increase in freight transportation revenue this year following the inauguration of the North Java double track connecting the capital city Jakarta with the country'€™s second-largest city Surabaya in East Java.

KAI commercial director Bambang Eko Martono said over the weekend that the contribution of freight transportation to the firm'€™s revenues jumped from less than 40 percent last year to around 47 percent this year, due to the increased railway capacity in Java that generated demand for rail-based logistics services.

'€œWe are currently in a negotiating process with [state-owned oil firm] Pertamina to transport their fuel using our service next year,'€ Bambang said.

'€œWe now provide logistics services for Coca Cola, Aqua, as well as Krakatau Steel, following the opening of the double track,'€ he continued.

The increased railway capacity following the limited operation of the double track earlier this year boosted the train operator'€™s revenues by around Rp 8.6 trillion (US$689.66) in the first half of this year, a 123 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The firm booked Rp 326 billion in net profits in the first half of this year, up 20 percent from the same period last year.

Bambang said that the firm was expected to book a total of Rp 10.70 trillion in revenue this year, up from Rp 8.6 trillion last year, of which Rp 3.09 trillion was derived from freight transportation.

The firm expects to book Rp 650 billion in profits this year, up 13 percent from Rp 560 billion
last year.

The double-track railway connecting Jakarta and Surabaya has been fully operational since October this year.

The entire double-track system, which stretches 727 km from Jakarta to Surabaya, has not only increased the railway capacity but also reduced the traveling time between the two cities from between 11 and 13 hours to only between eight and 10 hours.

According to Bambang, the firm is planning to add up to 15 new freight trains next year, with four of them located in Sumatra to transport coal, which is the firm'€™s backbone for freight income. KAI currently has a total of 40 freight trains, he said.

In October, KAI secured loans worth $94.3 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to finance its purchase of 50 locomotives from American technology giant General Electric (GE).

Bambang said the locomotives were expected to arrive in September next year and would be used to pull freight trains both in Sumatra and Java.