Reconstruction of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line resumes as FG mobilises CCECC

The Federal Government says it has mobilised contractor handling the $3bn reconstruction of the 2044.1km Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge railway project, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, to the site.

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said this during the inspection of the line on Sunday, adding that the laying of rail tracks could get to Enugu by September 2022.

Accompanied on the inspection by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Magdalene Ajani, Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, among others, said, “When it was inaugurated, enough funds were not given to them. Now they have some level of funding, I hope we can secure the (more) funds before they exhaust what they have.”

The minister also took to his verified Twitter handle, @ChibuikeAmaechi, on Sunday saying, “I just inspected the ongoing reconstruction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line.

“The contractors are working in different gangs across the line simultaneously. Our first target is to get track-laying from Port Harcourt to Enugu completed; then proceed with the next phase.”

Amaechi however said some of the stations where passengers would join the train or disembark were yet to be approved by the Federal Executive Council.

The minister stated that whenever standard gauges are to be constructed on the line, it should be built in such a way that both the narrow gauge and standard gauge could share the same infrastructure.

He also said more security would be required to forestall any form of delay that might arise as a result of agitations from the locals.

The FG on March 10, 2021 inaugurated the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 1,443km (897-mile) Eastern Railway Line.

It is expected to link Nigeria’s industrial and agriculture hubs, facilitating the easy movement of people, goods and services.