Loss-making national rail operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad today said it hoped to boost its fortunes with the revival of long-delayed double-track rail projects.

KTMB's creaking single-track interstate railway system dates back to the British colonial era in the late 1890s, and has long been criticised for being inefficient and slow.

The country for over a decade has been trying to build double-track lines in between states and to neighbouring Singapore and Thailand, which KTMB managing director, Mohamad Salleh Abdullah, said are crucial to effective operations.

"It is impossible to operate efficiently with the current single track system," Salleh told reporters.

KTMB has been awaiting the construction of a double-track railway from Ipoh in northern Perak state to Padang Besar in Perlis state, which borders Thailand's south. A single track line currently on that route carries 80 percent of the railway's freight.

Malaysia in March said it will proceed with the railway, worth an estimated RM9 billion, which has been stalled since 2003 when the government cut spending on mega-projects.

"I'm really hoping that the government could start work by middle of this year, as it takes at least five years to complete the whole project," he said.

A new era

Salleh said an electrified double track system would increase services by up to ten times from the existing 22 services offered daily.

He also said work on a first double-track line from Perak to Selangor would be completed in December 2007, with another route from Negeri Sembilan state to Singapore under consideration.

"We are hoping that by 2012 (all the routes) will be completely double tracked. It will definitely be a new era," Salleh said.

KTMB on Tuesday signed an agreement with a subsidiary of France's national railway company SNCF, which will offer technical support and assist in improving the Malaysian rail company's efficiency.

"With KTMB we have identified a number of issues where we can bring some commercial assistance in terms of training and sharing our expertise," SNCF's president and chief executive Jean-Pierre Loubinoux told reporters.