One of the new trains purchased under the Buhari administration to boost rail transportation.As Nigerians look forward to the take off the newly refurbished natiomal refinery in Port Harcourt in December, Nigeria’s Railway Corporation is saying its Port Harcourt-Aba service will also resume within the same month.
The decision by the Nigerian Railway Corporation to resume operations between Port Harcourt and Aba, is coming close on the heels of a recent disclosure indicating that materials used by the contractor to restore the narrow gauge are sub standard.
Recall that Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, the current Minister of Transportation who was in Rivers State to inspect the extent of work condemned the efforts of the contractor.
The Minister also expressed doubts that the contractor would be able to deliver the project on time.
But pursuant to its agenda to extend its services to all parts of the federation, the Nigeria Railway Corporation said it would kick-start operations between Port Harcourt and Aba in December.
The Managing Director of Nigeria Railway Corporation, Fidel Okhiria also revealed that the Kano-Lagos railway service will begin in December.
He said the contractors have given an undertaken that passengers and cargo transport will begin on the Kano-Lagos and Port-Harcourt-Aba rail tracks as soon as possible,
He added that the federal government is working to guarantee security in the rail service sector.
“Within the next three months”, he said,, “we will be able to commence operations in Kano-Lagos and Port-Harcourt to Aba. So we can move from the port.”