21/1/06 PORT KLANG (Bernama) -- The government Saturday received the final shipment of 20 high-powered diesel locomotives from China which will help to boost Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTM Bhd) freight services capacity by five-fold.

The final shipment at Northport here comprised eight units of high-powered locomotives from Dalian, China. The first and second shipment of six fleets respectively arrived on Nov 5 and Dec 28 last year.

Transport Ministry deputy secretary general Zakaria Bahari received the freight trains here today on behalf of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy.

Chan said these new locomotives would complement the existing fleets of 20 Blue Tiger locomotives manufactured by General Electric of US which had been in commissioned since late 2003.

"With the acquisition of the new rolling stocks, existing customers can expect better services from KTM Bhd in term of volume capacity per trip. The increased volume capacity per trip will be a major factor to attract new customers," he said in his speech read by Zakaria.

The contract for procurement of the locomotive was awarded to China Tietong Telecommunications Corporation in December 2003 worth about US$58 million (RM220 million) via counter trade agreement of palm oil between Ministry of Primary Industries and the sugar and oils division China National Cereal, Oil and Foodstuff Import and Export Corporation.

The new locomotives, named after Malaysian timbers such as Nyatoh, Sepetir, Cengal and Meranti, have equal hauling power of 2,500 tonnes hauling load to the Blue Tiger trains and capable of operating between 30 and 40 wagons compared with the current 20 wagons per run, Chan said.

He said these locomotives would be used more frequently after the completion of the double-tracking project between Rawang-Ipoh.

KTM Bhd's freight services recorded a revenue of RM107.4 million last year.