Lagos-Ibadan train will move cargo from Apapa port by January – Amaechi

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said the plan is for the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge to start operating from the Apapa seaport in January 2021 after the inauguration of the new line by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said there was a need for all stakeholders to cooperate with the project contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), to ensure the delivery of the project ahead of the inauguration.

He spoke in Lagos against the backdrop of a recent disagreement between the CCECC and management of the APM Terminal over the demolition of some sections of the Lagos Port Complex to create room for the laying of rail track into the ports. But APM Terminal viewed this as impeding its operations.

The minister said he had already informed President Buhari about the inauguration arrangement, adding that the project must be completed up to the Apapa port terminal extension.

Amaechi was at the APM Terminal in the Apapa Port Complex in company with the Chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Alhassan Musa; Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria; his Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) counterpart, Hadiza Bala Usman.

He said there was no going back on the plan to inaugurate the new rail line in January 2021.

The minister said, “I have already told the President we are commissioning it in January. So there is already an answer and we are working towards that answer and we must achieve that time because the President is aware.

“By Monday, I am going to the President’s office to give them a date and it must be January. This is not a political statement and it is not going to be Ebute-Meta to Ibadan. No. What is critical is that we must find a solution to the gridlock. The moment we begin to move wagons from the seaports, at least to Ibadan, pressure on Lagos will reduce drastically and that is my objective.”

Amaechi directed the APM Terminal to allow the rail project contractor to access the construction area as contained in the project design.

The NPA MD also restated the directive for the APMT to cooperate with the contractor to work according to the project design and specifications.

She said it was not for the terminal operator to dictate to the government and insisted that everybody was duty bound to comply with the directive of the government to fast-track the construction work.