Kaduna-Kano rail ready this year– NRC

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr.  Kayode Opeifa, has revealed that the Kaduna-Kano rail project will come on stream in 2026, adding that the Lagos-Kano-Maradi is scheduled for completion in 2027.

Opeifa made the disclosure in an exclusive interview when he led his management team on a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Media Trust Group in Abuja on Tuesday.

“The Kano-Maradi is scheduled for 2027 and it is part of the LAKAJI project which is (Lagos-Kano-Jibiya Project. However, the Kano-Kano express is scheduled for this year for completion. So you can see the two of them are ongoing and that’s being carried out by the Federal Ministry of Transportation. And I know the Minister at every opportunity speaks to this train service and when that is completed, we only have services in full and Nigerians will be able to travel from Abuja to Lagos and Abuja to Kano.

“Also, the people doing business with neighboring countries, like the Republic of Niger will be able to move their goods from the Lagos port to Niger Republic. And Nigeria will become a mobility center for the landlocked Sahel countries.”

He also addressed the issue of the Lagos-Kano narrow gauge express service which has been suspended for some time now, noting that the route for now is faced with a lot of washouts and also security related issues.

“Between Niger and Kwara, there are security issues which the two state governments have vowed to manage. But more importantly, what is disturbing Lagos-Kano express service is not security. It is the washouts. There are so many parts of the track that are washed out like you have in Mokwa and other locations.

“Also in Kaduna we are fixing that as soon as we have the necessary resources to fix it.

It will take us six months. But currently, we still run Lagos to Oshogbo for Salah. This Ramadan season, we are looking at all the factories, to run Lagos to Ilorin except that we may not go beyond Mokwa until we fix the Mokwa which was as a result of a washout. So the washouts are the issues. And it’s a priority,”

On the distortions in timing on the Abuja-Kaduna train, he said, “So what we are hoping to do very soon is to increase it to three trips. After we’ve increased it to three trips, that means on the day, we can take off from Abuja twice and from Kaduna once.

“On the other day, you take off from Kaduna twice and Abuja once. So alternatively, the train will be taking off from Abuja and Kaduna. And ending up wherever you took off from to rest.

Secondly, we are also working hard to get the second train back on track. That is the medium time. So the three trips is a short start.

“And that should surface any time from now. You also know we have time restriction of when the train cannot move, that’s 6 p.m. So as soon as we get out of these time restriction issues, we will start the three trips.

“Once we get the three trips, I’ll focus on our shift to getting the second train. And just to let you know, it takes 12 to 15 months to get a train to deliver to you,” the NRC MD stated.

On the issue of racketeering, Opeifa stated that the Corporation has put a double-layer screening, which has drastically reduced the issue of racketeering.

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