FG Has Constructed 600 Railway Lines Since 2015-Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, has said that the Federal Government has constructed a total of 600 functional railway lines since inception in 2015.

The railway lines include, Lagos- Ibadan, 156 km, Abuja- Kaduna 186 km and Warri-  Itakpe , 350km.

He said that by the time the Ibadan-Kano line which is about 860 km, the present government must have constructed up to 1500 km.

The minister  further stated that negotiation for PortHarcour-Maiduguri line is ongoing.

According to Amaechi, the Federal Government and the Chinese Government are still negotiating on the project.

The minister also said that the Federal Government would continue its negotiations with Russians for the commencement of the Lagos-Calabar rail project.

He said, “The six geo-political zones are all covered, Port Harcourt –Maiduguri covers Port Harcourt, Aba, Owerri, Umuahia, Enugu, Abakaliki, Awka, Makurdi, Lafia, Akwanga, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, and connects to Damaturu, and then Maiduguri.

“The Lagos-Calabar rail line covers the whole of the South South zone. We have Lagos coming through Akure, Benin.

“Then from Benin we have a spot leading to Agbor and Asaba to Onitsha and then you continue to Benin to Ughelii, Warri, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt, Aba, Uyo, and Calabar that takes care of the South South zone.

“While the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri rail line takes care of the South East and North East zones.

“The Lagos-Kano rail line also takes care of the South West zone and parts of the North West and North Central zones.’’

According to Amaechi, the central line that starts from Abuja also takes care of the North Central zone, which includes Kogi and Kwara states.

He noted that the construction of the rail lines across the country required huge funding even as he acknowledged Nigeria’s rising borrowing profile.

The minister said that in view of the debts already incurred, if there was not enough money to construct new rail lines, money could be borrowed to rehabilitate the existing ones.

“Currently what we now have as functional lines are: Lagos-Ibadan (156km), Abuja-Kaduna (186km), and Itakpe-Warri which is about 350km all put together under this government.

“We have recorded a total of about 600+km of railway and by the time we complete the Ibadan-Kano rail line which is about 860km, we will be having 1500+km railway constructed by this government.

“I hope that the next government that will take over from us will be able to do something in that regard to progress the railway, because even if we finish the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar rail lines, the Port Harcourt–Maduguri line still needs to be finished.”  

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