A
mega railway project that will link Ibadan and Lagos State together is
in the offing after being sanctioned by the Federal Government.
File Photo
The Federal Government will commence the construction of a standard
gauge rail line from Lagos to Ibadan next month, the Managing Director,
Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr. Fidet Okheria, has said.
The project, which has been awarded to the China Civil Engineering
Construction Corporation, is being jointly funded by the Nigerian and
Chinese governments, and will cost about $1.5bn (N458bn).
Already, the Federal Government has made its counterpart funds
available, while China promises to release its own by the end of this
month, according to Okheria.
This is coming about six months after the Federal Government and
the CCECC signed an agreement for the project. The NRC helmsman, who
spoke with a Punch correspondent exclusively in Lagos on Friday shortly
after receiving a leadership award from the ECOWAS Youth Council, said, “The
Chinese government promises that by the end of the month to release its
counterpart funds. And the project should, therefore, start in the next
one month.”
The new Lagos-Ibadan rail, spanning 156.65 kilometres, is a double
line, which is the first phase of a new Lagos-Kano standard gauge line.
The new line, when completed in 18 months, would coexist with the old narrow gauge rail line, Okheria said.
The contract for the 2,733km new Lagos-Kano rail was first awarded
by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 at a cost of $8.3bn to the
Chinese company (CCECC) but could not be executed due to paucity of
funds.
It was re-awarded to the same contractor by the Goodluck Jonathan
administration in 2012 for execution in six phases, starting with the
Lagos-Ibadan stretch.
Okheria also said arrangements were being finalised to start the construction of the Lagos-Calabar and Kaduna-Kano rail lines.
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