Lagos-Ibadan railway: There must be train on the track by February 2019 – Amaechi

By ODIMMEGWA JOHNPETER, Abuja

The Federal Government has restated its commitment to completing the Lagos-Ibadan Railway in good time as the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company, CCECC, the Contractor handling the Project, was charged to expedite the pace of work on the Railway Project to ensure that the Rail Line is ready for usage by February 2019.

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, made this known on Tuesday December 4, 2018 while briefing Journalists at Papàlanto in Ogun State immediately after the inspection tour of the Rail Line and Monthly Meeting of the project Monitoring Steering Committee of the Project.

According to him, “…What I expected and I have told them, CCECC, is that there must be train on the track by February 2019, by that I mean, train on the track that makes transport sense such that we must be able to convey passengers from Lagos to Abeokuta and possibly to Ibadan and we must work towards achieving this target,” Amaechi declared.

The Minister reiterated that the pace of work on the Railway project is progressing given that there are now minimal challenges that could hinder construction work. He noted that the challenge of constant rainfall was no longer there and the Contractor has few Bridges to be built. He affirmed that by the end of this month, they will have one or two bridges to build.

In order to accelerate the pace of work and achieve the new target, the Minister advised the Contractor to temporarily suspend work on the construction of Stations along the corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan Rail line and focus on the laying of tracks being the major work at the moment.

Given the Security situation at the Lagos axis of the Railway Project, Amaechi stated that CCECC has reported some incidences of Community harassment on the Contractor and Workers as well as theft to their equipment. He therefore charged CCECC to promptly seek the support of security agencies for adequate and effective policing of their personnel and equipment.