Lagos-Ibadan rail to be ready by April 2020 - Amaechi gives updates

Lagos-Ibadan rail to be ready by April 2020 - Amaechi gives updates

- The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has hinted that the Lagos-Ibadan railway project will be fully done by April 2020

- According to the minister, some of the things that have delayed the project are lack of cooperation from owners of lands, theft and slow importation of equipment

- Ameachi said some of the issues encountered on the Ibadan-Lagos axis would not happen when laying track for Ibadan-Kano area

The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has suggested that the Lagos-Ibadan speed railway project will be fully completed by April, 2020.

The Nation reports that minister said the lack of support from land owners, delay in bringing the equipment from China and theft were some of the reason that have caused the project to slow down.

Amaechi also said that the laying of tracks will get to Moniya in Ibadan, Oyo state, in a month’s time, adding that there has been huge improvement in the entire project.

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“We will all agree that there is huge improvement. From the 20th of December when we will carry out the next inspection, we will get to this place (Moniya in Ibadan) which means that our focus will no longer be on the track but on the completion of the stations and communication and signal. Once we get communication and signaling, we will be out of Lagos-Ibadan.

“We will be out of this place (Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge project), latest by April 2020. We are no longer giving ourselves the time, the contractors are the ones giving us the time. The initial contract was from Ebute-Meta but because we wanted it to end at the seaports, we extended it and that is where the challenges are,” he said.

The minister also mentioned that some of the things that will be doing in moving forward the project will be to clear the Apapa gridlock.

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He, however, added that when the Ibadan-Kano project begins, the problem experienced on the Lagos-Ibadan part of the project will not recur.

On the free Christmas ride that will begin on Saturday, November 30, he said the contractors in charge of the project the track to Ibadan will have been done by Friday, December 20, when they come for inspection, adding they would manage the available coaches to make the free trip a reality.

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“They said by the time we come for inspection on the 20th of December, the track will get to Ibadan and the issue will now be the completion of stations, communications and signaling so that we can commence test running on the 30th of November.

“We don’t have enough coaches and locomotives but we will start with as many people as we can take pending when the 20 locomotives that we imported arrive and we expect that they will arrive end of December or latest second week in January, 2020,” he said.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government ordered massive rolling stock in preparation for the commencement of commercial operation on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge project. The rolling stock comprises 30 engines, 63 coaches and 200 wagons.

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Source: Legit.ng

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