Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project‘ll Remove Pressure from Road when Completed – Amaechi

Alhaji Lai Muhammed, Eng. Usman and Rotimi Ameachi

 The Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail would remove between two and three million tonnes of cargo from the roads annually when completed, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said. Hon Min Alj Lai Mohammed,Engr Usman Abubakar nd Hon Min Rotimi Amaechi on a train ride from Ebute Metta to Papalanto Speaking on Tuesday during the monthly supervision at Papalanto-Ewekoro construction site in Ogun, Amaechi said that the rail project would remove pressure on the roads. 

“The standard gauge project will remove pressure on our roads. “When the project is completed, it will remove about two to three million tonnes of cargo from the road annually and bring relief to vehicular movement,” he said. According to him, the standard gauge rail will be efficient, reliable and faster than the present narrow gauge. 

Amaechi said the new rail line would be traveling at about 100 to 150 kilometers per hour, as the case may be. He said that the new standard gauge would entice lots of investors to the states as a result of its efficiency and timeliness. “When you spend less than an hour from Apapa to Ibadan, it would be an advantage to the users,” he added. The minister also noted that the ongoing rail project was creating about 7,000 jobs for the teeming youths.

 According to the minister, as the scope of the project is getting wider on daily basis, it is important to employ various artisans and technicians on the field to handle some areas of the project. Amaechi said that some of the artisans were also undergoing training under the contractor for proper maintenance of the project after completion. The minister reiterated that the rail project would be completed in January 2019, adding that efforts have been put in place to ensure proper channels of pipelines and underground cables in Lagos State. 

“Those are the utilities that are still delaying laying of tracts in Lagos State and those cables are very important to properly plan for. “We are also making proper arrangement with the Nigerian Army due to the affected barracks at Yaba. “But the project will be completed at the appropriate time; about 1.2 kilometers tracks are laid everyday and very soon we will get to Lagos,” Amaechi said.