At least, 10 coaches of the 64 coaches being built for Nigeria’s standard gauge railway will be delivered by June 2019.
The first batch of 10 coaches will be deployed on the Abuja- Kaduna rail to ease the growing demand on the service. The remaining 54, when delivered, will be used on Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge under construction and the Itakpe-Warri rail service.
The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Ameachi disclosed this, weekend in China, when he led a delegation to inspect the pace of work at the Chinese Railway Rolling stock Corporation (CRRC) Tangshan Co., Ltd, the company building the coaches.
In China, the Minister instructed that 10 coaches be delivered to Nigeria, latest June, to relieve the burden on the Abuja-Kaduna line.
He also hinted that some of the coaches might be used, in the interim, on the Lagos-Ibadan line if it’s ready before new coaches arrive.
According to him, “We need coaches by June latest. We need coaches that can carry men from one point to another and we need a minimum of 10 coaches out of the 64.
“I requested for 10 coaches now because we need to improve on kaduna-Abuja line. If the 10 doesn’t come, there is nothing I can do but it has to come because they have to manufacture for us to use in Kaduna-Abuja and again, Lagos- Ibadan will soon be ready, we also have to ensure that we get coaches that we can be using, pending when they finish construction of the 64 coaches,” he noted.
Amaechi, however noted that the pace of work is slow and urged the manufacturers to improve on it, adding that the contract span had expired.
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