Lack of funds stalls linking major cities by rail – FG

The Minister of Transportation Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has said the federal government hasn’t secured the necessary funds to commence the linking of the major cities by rail.

The minister also said the FG is willing to welcome investors that will volunteer to muster capital to invest in Nigeria’s railways.

Mr. Amaechi disclosed this yesterday during the 2019 Budget Defence before the Senate Committee on Land Transport at the National Assembly, Abuja.

According to the Minister, these include The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Rail line which was approved for construction by the Administration of President GoodluckEbele Jonathan, Kano-Katsina-Jibiya to Maradi in Niger Republic, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri passing through Enugu, Lafia, Makurdi, Gombe, Owerri, Onitsha, Awka, Abakaliki, Yola, Jalingo and Damaturu.

Similarly, others suffering the same fate are Railway Industrial Park in Port Harcourt and the Deep Seaport in Bonny with railway connections.

Furthermore, the Minister disclosed that under the Railway Modernization Programme, the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail line has reached 65.5 percent completion, noting that the rail tracks have been laid up to Abeokuta from Lagos and hopefully by end of May 2019 it will get to Ibadan.

Credit: Daily Trust