The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has directed trailers obstructing construction into the Nigerian ports to stay away.
The Minister lamented that trailers have continued to park along the rail line connecting the ports which has impeded the work.
Amaechi stated this to journalists during an inspection tour of ongoing railway projects along the standard gauge on Saturday.
He said, “We are having problems. If you walk with us into the ports, you will see trailers parked on the track. It is important that the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority ensures that everybody leaves the work area until we complete it
“Secondly, the moment we complete it, we cannot allow anyone drive over our track except they are carrying cargoes imported or we are exporting. Let’s complete the entire thing. If we do, we can deal with issue of discipline.”
Similarly, the Minister tasked the contractors in the project, the Chinese Construction Engineering Corporation to make sure the projects meet global standards, as he stressed that he is proud of the work so far on the rail.
He also noted that there is a limit of tonnage that would be allowed to go on the road. He said the reason it has not been implemented is that there is no alternative. But when the alternative comes to play, one can’t use the road with a high capacity of tonnage.
On the Eastern rail line, he said on March 9, the foundation stone will be laid. he explained that groundbreaking will precede front-end engineering and subsequently construction.
He said if the lines get to Aba, then the trains will commence work till it gets to Maiduguri and Yobe. He said the president is considering another connection to Abakaliki and Awka, though approval had not been given.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Railway Corporation has put plans together to operate 16 trips daily along the Lagos-Ibadan rail when it is fully operational.
Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria
said, “When we start fully, we will have eight trains coming down and going up on a daily basis, making 16. We are hoping that within the next week we will increase it to two up, two down and that time, we will be able to stop at Agege.
“We will be able to stop at Lagos, Agege, Abeokuta, and Ibadan. People will then be able to buy tickets at Agege. The passenger turnout is low but we are increasing it to two because people do not travel at the same time.
He added, “We usually run in the morning from Ibadan. Now, we will introduce one from Lagos in the morning and we will also introduce another leaving Lagos in the evening and add more stoppage stations.”
Okhiria explained that work had begun on e-ticketing for the Lagos-Ibadan and should be expected in six months time.
He said, “We are already working on it. What we did before was specific to Abuja-Kaduna. When we started that process, construction had not begun. The Lagos-Ibadan rail will not take that much time but within six months we will be able to achieve that.”
The MD of the NRC said the corporation received nine freight locomotives and two shuttle locomotives, out of which two were taken to Itakpe-Warri because of the great prospect due to the AKK project. He also noted that the Itakpe-Warri line is doing well and will be boosted to service two return trips a day.
He also added that the rail service to ports has resumed, as he noted that 13 overhead bridges will be built within Lagos alone while responding to a question on level crossing.
