Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali has officially flagged off the freight train service for the movement of freight/containers from the Apapa Port, Lagos, to the container deport in Ibadan, Oyo State.
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Mr.Alkali during the inauguration disclosed that the move was expected to decongest the Apapa Port as well as free some Lagos major roads and bridges currently occupied with container trucks and causing traffic snarl.
Declaring the movement open at the APM terminal, Apapa, the minister who expressed delight at the project, also spoke on the Nigeria Customs Service scanner house blocking the rail track at the Apapa Port.
According to the minister, We are using one line now but we have two others that stop before the Customs (scanner) building.The ministry is going to liaise with the Customs to remove their building and free the remaining two lines up to the end of the seaport and even enable the train to turn.
” We are going to begin to transport cargoes/containers from Apapa, Lagos on standard rail Guage while we transport from Ibadan to Kano on narrow Guage. It is not going to be from Lagos to Ibadan, but from Lagos to Kano. In the next three months, it is going to be seamless operations and I have directed the managing Director of NRC to do the cleanliness of the cottage to enhance the smooth operations.
For now, there’s going to be three trips on daily basis and each trip would transport thirty containers/cargoes at a go and this will make it ninety containers. And by the time we complete the remaining two rail lines to Apapa port, it would be times three of each trip”.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation NRC,Fidet Okhiria said the Corporation has been working assiduously to ensure the aside the movement of passengers on the Lagos-Ibadan rail corridor, cargo is also moved seamlessly in order to value more value to the economy.
According to the MD, what we are doing today is the official flag off, and the minister is a lucky man to have began the movement of 30 containers from Apapa to Ibadan, though, we have been on it since three weeks now, but the minister has declared it .
Executive Director, Bueno Logistics Limited, Jetson Nwankwo said the freight train initiative would address simultaneously the port congestion and trailers parking on major roads and bridges.
He stated that the train would return the empty containers dropped at the container terminal to the seaport.
The Minister also toured and inspected some other facilities and terminals of the Railway Corporation.
