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KAI to serve 6 new coal companies in S. Sumatra
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A PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) freight train in Surabaya, East Java. (Courtesy of State-owned Enterprises Ministry/bumn.go.id)
S
tate-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) will expand its freight services in southern Sumatra starting next year and obtain six coal companies as new clients.
KAI’s spokesperson for southern Sumatra III division, Aida Suryati, said in Palembang on Monday that an agreement had been signed.
“The deal is sealed and we will start in 2017,” Aida said.
Aida refused to name the companies, but said they operated in Lahat, South Sumatra.
She said the six companies made a deal with KAI because transporting coal by train was more efficient than shipping it by truck.
The companies consider see the railway a better alternative because their coal trucks have to share the roads with private vehicles and they often experienced congestion.
KAI cooperates with coal companies like PT Bukit Asam, using designated routes from Tanjung Enim to Tarahan in Lampung and Tanjung Enim to Kertapati in Palembang, South Sumatra.
With the new cooperation, KAI will establish a designated route from Lahat to Kertapati.
“We don’t have to build anything new, the infrastructure is there,” she said.
In Lahat, the company cooperates with PT Gumay Prima Energi, which sends 3 million metric tons of coals 180 kilometers by railway from Sukacinta in Lahat to Simpang Station in Ogan Ilir regency, South Sumatra. (evi)
