Lagos-Ibadan Railway Project to be Ready April 2020, Assures Amaechi
The Lagos-Ibadan Railway project shall be completed in April 2020, the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi has assured.
Amaechi during an inspection of the project Saturday in Ibadan also assured that test-running of the train would begin by the end of November 2019, adding that he was convinced that the contractors would deliver the project by April considering the pace at which they have been working.
The Minister said the only task for the contractors was in completing the Lagos-end of the project involving construction of new flyovers and overhead bridges, but added that work has been progressing.
Amaechi also said he was concerned about the safety of people living at kilometre 8.9 Ilupeju, Mushin axis of the rail line, and instructed that the buildings should be bought and paid for so that they can be demolished to pave way for fast work.
He told newsmen, “We are no longer giving ourselves the time; the contractors are the ones giving us time. By April next year, we should be out of this place. There is huge improvement compared to the last time we were here. The contractors have assured us that by December 20 this year, the laying of tracks would have gotten to Ibadan station. This means that the focus will no longer be on the tracks but on the completion of the stations, communication and Signal operations, and once we achieve all that, it means we are out of Ibadan.”
“They are eager to complete the stations but the constraint at the moment is that the equipment have not arrived from China, and our argument is that they should get some things from Nigeria. They are expecting pipes and other things, and they requested that we should give them one or two months to complete the stations. They equally wanted to import glasses and doors from China but we have to put pressure on them to buy those glasses and doors in Nigeria in other to quicken the time with which they would install them.”
“It is a big problem. We are dealing with urban renewal. We are building new flyovers, we are also building overhead bridges and under passes, and we are dealing with pipes and lots more. We pray not to experience these challenges in Ibadan to Kano segment of the project. Don’t forget that there are two contracts here. The first is Ebute-Metta to Ibadan, then, I came up with the idea of extending the project to the seaport, which is a bit challenging.”
“They can get up to Ebute-Metta in the next one month, but to get there without getting to Apapa seaport would amount to not achieving much because we need to clear the gridlock in Apapa, and to achieve that, we need to get the tracks into the seaport, in that way, cargoes will be loaded to wagons and transported up to Ibadan.”
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