The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi says the ambition of the Federal Government is to begin operation on the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge rail line by November this year.
The Minister said this on Monday, while briefing journalists in Lagos, accompanied by the junior Minister Gbemi Saraki after inspection of the project.
“They need to increase their speed. They reduced their speed within the period the government dissolved the last cabinet.
“Now, that we are back,.
My colleague, the Minister of State, and I had resolved to push back the pressure to ensure early completion.
“Our ambition is that by November, we should begin the trial of train services between Lagos and Ibadan for free,”.
The Minister said the tracks had been laid, but the stations had been impeded because the cabinet was not in place at a point.
“The tracks are no longer the problem, he says… the problem is how to get them to finish the stations on time.
“They have promised that the minor stations will be completed in three months; but six months after, they are yet to be completed,” according to him.
The Minister said he had mounted pressure on the contractor to ensure that the minor stations were completed in due course.
“We know that by January next year (2020) they are going to finish both the minor and major stations so that we can move on,”.
He, however, said that the gas pipelines at Apapa Ports had impeded the progress of work, adding, “We will still work hard to see how we can achieve our goal”.
Mr. Amaechi advised the contractor to speed up work on the project before his next visit in October.
In her remarks, Saraki commended the Federal Government’s commitment to the project, saying that she was impressed riding on the train from Lagos to Ibadan. She also said she is confident the government of President Mohammadu Buhari will fulfil its promise to Nigerians.
(C) Control TV 2019.
