Nigeria's new rail system to become operational in December
PANA

Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has directed the Federal Ministry of Transport to ensure that the railway mode of transportation, which will be rehabilitated shortly, must become operational by December, 2009.

The presidential directive was delivered Monday by the Minister of Transport, Mr . Ibrahim Biu, while paying a courtesy call on Governor Babatunde Fashola of the South West Lagos State.

According to the minister, construction work on the rail tracks will commence in March, 2009.

The minister disclosed that by March, his ministry would commence the rehabilita tion of rail tracks, buy locomotives and repair signal stations which would fac i litate the take off of the new rail transportation.

He disclosed ``My visit to Lagos was to inspect the Nigeria Railway Corporation workshop and assess its fixed and movable facilities in readiness for the rehabi l itation process following President Yar' Adua's directive.

``Considering the importance of Lagos as the nation's economic nerve centre, we hope to commence the first phase of human and haulage transportation from Lagos t o Kano in the first instance between December, 2009 and January, 2010.''

He said that he was in Lagos to solicit the assistance and cooperation of the st ate government in the realization and success of the project.

Responding, Governor Fashola commended the proposed restoration of the rail syst em by the federal government, saying this would help to reduce between 30 per ce n t and 40 per cent of the pressure on Lagos roads.

Fashola, who promised to collaborate with the Ministry on the project, recalled that the state had initiated the light rail's red route within the Lagos-Kano ro u te.

He said: ``The Lagos State Government is collaborating with Ogun State in its li ght rail's red route programme from Iddo terminus through Agege to Ijoko in Ogu n state under the mega city arrangement.

``We are doing the design after which we would embark on deployment. That is why we began the clearing of setbacks at Oshodi and Bolade to ensure that there are no hitches encountered by contractors whenever they move to site."

Fashola also assured the Minister of the state's preparedness to acquire some of its abandoned jetties to facilitate the opening up of its waterways.

Earlier on, the State Commissioner for Transportation, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, ha d informed the Minister that the state government had been maintaining abandoned

Federal infrastructure in the state, especially in the transport sector since t h e federal capital was moved to Abuja in 1991.

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