The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has
stated that 20 new coaches for the Abuja-Kaduna and the Lagos-Ibadan rail lines
will arrive in the country in about six weeks.
Amaechi said this on Monday while answering
questions from journalists on his arrival from China at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja.
Explaining the thrust of his official visit to
China, where he took delivery of some of the new trains, Amaechi said: “We went
for two items, basically to get more locomotives and coaches. They're all
ready. It will take six weeks to get to Nigeria and maybe one week to clear
them. For the Lagos trains, it will be easy; it will take a day or two to get
it to the track, but for the trains coming to Abuja, it will take one week or
two to get them here.
“To my surprise, the coaches we released two or
three weeks ago to Kaduna arrived just within two days. So, we hope that when
these trains arrive in Lagos seaport, we should be able to get them fast. We
are expecting 20 coaches, 10 for Abuja-Kaduna and 10 for Lagos-Ibadan line as a
temporary measure, as more will arrive in the second batch as we complete the Lagos-Ibadan
rail line.”
The minister had while taking delivery of the newly
built trains in China, tested run the locomotives and motored cars.
He confirmed that these trains were better improved
and of higher technology than what were obtained previously.
Amaechi added that more trains are still being
built for Nigeria, and that the next batch would be delivered as soon as they
are ready.
On maintenance, he said, he's making sure that
every contract comes with a maintenance contract, while rail engineers from
Nigeria are being trained in China to take over the maintenance of the trains from
the Chinese.
On the reason for maintenance contracts, the
minister said: “As governor of Rivers State, I made sure that everything I did
in the state was maintained, I kept a maintenance contract going, but what is
happening there now, I won't know. So when people ask me, what do you do about
maintenance? The answer is: ‘In all our contracts, you have a maintenance
contract’. Like now, the one for Abuja has expired, and I've just directed them
to renew the contract. Though I'm going to seek approval from both the president
and the cabinet, however, the Chinese should not leave the site for now.
“Also, what is critical to the sustenance of our
railway system is what we are doing in China. We are training our people; the
Chinese won't live here forever, they have to go, so our own engineers will
take over. I met with some of those Nigerian engineers during my China trip. We
hope that in the coming years, they will come back and then we can stop the
Chinese maintenance contract in both Kaduna-Abuja and Lagos-Ibadan.”
For Warri-Itakpe, the minister assured Nigerians that
it would be completed early next year.
He added: “That one is nearing completion. It should
be completed by January/February or March, but that's not the problem, the
problem is Abuja to Itakpe with the Seaport in Warri. We've signed all the documents;
we are just waiting for the Chinese.”
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