The Senate has urged the federal government to upgrade the Eastern Rail Line, which traverses Port Harcourt to Maiduguri from narrow to standard gauge rail.
It also asked the government to suspend the purported planned rehabilitation of the outdated Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge rail but to instead make arrangements for the proper funding of the construction of standard gauge rail.
The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) and co-sponsored by 31 others during Wednesday’s plenary.
The Eastern Rail Line serves 4 geopolitical zones of South South, South East, North Central and North East, runs from Port Harcourt, through Enugu, Makurdi, Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri.
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The federal government resolved in 2017 to modernise and standardise the Nigerian railway system and secured a Chinese loan to implement the project.
Abuja-Kaduna, Ajaokuta-Itakpe-Warri and Lagos-Ibadan rail lines had been upgraded to standard gauge.
Umeh, in his motion, said the federal government should, as a matter of national interest, maintain a common developmental programme for the country by taking immediate steps to build standard gauge rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.
He also urged the federal government to consider Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to ensure that modernisation and standardisation of the Eastern Rail Line is achieved.
He said a functional railway system in Nigeria will help to reduce vehicular traffic on the roads and save the same from constant dilapidation.
