The Federal Government has announced plans to commence the construction of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge railway project.
The rail project allocated to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is expected to cost FG $3 billion. The rail project is expected to link states in the southern part of Nigeria down to the north through the eastern states.
Rotimi Ameachi, minister of Transportation affirmed this on Sunday, he said the the laying of rail tracks may get to the Enugu State capital by September 2022.
Rotimi was accompanied on the inspection by Magdalene Ajani, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director; Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) among others.
Amaechi said, “When it was inugurated, enough fund was not given to them. Now they have some level of funding, I hope we can secure the fund before they exhaust what they have”.
He hinted that some of the stations where passengers will join the train or disembark are yet to be approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The Minister equally noted that whenever standard gauges are to be constructed on the line, it should be built in such a way that both the narrow gauge and standard gauge could share the same infrastructure.
He also insisted that more security is required to forestall any form of delay that may arise as a result of agitations from locals.
Amaechi said he expected CCECC to have cleared the track up to Imo River,
The Federal Government on the 10th of March, 2021 kick-started the $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) Eastern Railway Line that starts from the southeastern oil hub of Port Harcourt and terminates at the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
It is expected to link Nigeria’s industrial and agriculture hubs, facilitating the easy movement of people, goods and services.
When fully functional, it will connect Rivers, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno states respectively.