FG Assures Nigerians of Steady Progress in Railway Modernisation

Senator Idris Umar, Transport Minister

Sunday Okobi

The federal government Tuesday gave the assurance that the 25-year Railway Strategic Plan, which has entered its second phase, particularly the modernisation of railway transportation in the country, would be vigorously and steadily pursued.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, gave the assurance when he led the management team from the ministry to inspect the second phase of the construction of standard gauge rail lines across the country notably the ongoing construction of the 186-kilometre standard gauge rail line from Idu (Abuja) to Kaduna.

According to a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday by the Special Assistant on Media to the minister, Innocent Ebirim, Umar, who stated that the ongoing rail project had reached 72 per cent completion level, expressed satisfaction in the quality of work executed so far in the areas of track laying, construction of culverts, railway bridges, overpass bridges, concrete sleepers, site clearing, design and survey among others.

He assured Nigerians that the modernisation of railway transportation was fully on course.
The minister remarked that the “huge milestone recorded in the corridor is a boost to the current administration’s transformation agenda in terms of infrastructural component of the programme to revolutionise the transport sector.”

During the inspection, according to the statement, the minister directed the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to remodel the Idu (Abuja) station of the rail line to meet up with the modern and international standards in railway stations.

He gave an assurance that the two major challenges confronting the work in the corridor, namely; the water pipeline and the right of way, are being resolved with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to allow for a seamless flow of the rail lines.

Umar therefore urged the local community residing along the rail lines “to cooperate with government projects for the overall benefits of all in the society.”

In his contributions, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Nebolisa Emodi, while commending the contractor for quality work, remarked that the ministry maintains effective supervision of the work as he promised that the ministry would not fail to call the contractor to order for any perceived lapse in the project.

On his part, the representative of the Managing Director of CCECC, Mr. Lv Feng, declared that the company would complete the work by the end of the year, which is the expected date of completion “because the major aspects of the project had been done leaving the minor ones to be completed in the course of the year.”