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Four New Standard Gauge Railway Line Coming – Amaechi
Nigerians should expect four new standard gauge railway line projects from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
This is according to the Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi.
The minister stated this on Wednesday. He said it while addressing reporters at the Moniya Station in Ibadan. This was after inspecting the train stations on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge.
Amaechi listed the new projects as the Ibadan-Ilorin-Kano standard gauge, Katsina-Daura-Maradi-Jibia in Niger Republic, the Port-Harcourt-Onne-Warri and the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail line.
The minister explained that besides the Ibadan-Ilorin-Kano, he had sent a proposal to his the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to get approval for the new rail projects.
According to him, the projects will be done as the funds for them become available.
On the Lagos-Ibadan speed train, Amaechi said though he had earlier directed the completion of all minor stations by September, the contractor had assured that the stations could only be completed in phases.
He said: “The contractor has assured us that only three minor stations could be completed by September ending, while the other three would be completed by October ending and the three major stations to be completed by December ending.” Standard Gauge Railway Line
“The contractor argued that Apapa Station may be a bit delayed. This was because it was started late. Also, I have given them up to December to complete it along with the major stations”, the minister said.
“I had insisted that the project would be meaningless without Apapa Station. I had, therefore, directed that they set up a special task force to handle Apapa Station exclusively. The idea is to ensure that they will finish Apapa in December along with the major stations,” Amaechi said.
