The Federal Government has concluded plans to inaugurate a cargo train service to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP).
Director, Special Duties of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Tahir Idris, said in statement on Sunday in Abuja that the inauguration of the rail service will hold tomorrow, Tuesday May 7, 2019 at the KIDP premises in Kakuri, Kaduna State.
Idris, in the statement, quoted the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hassan Bello, as saying that connecting the dry port by rail “is a watershed to the facility”.
Bello said that the Council would also hold an interactive session with relevant stakeholders on the theme “Optimising the Kaduna dry port as key to Nigeria economic diversification” immediately after the event.
He said the rail facility would lead to the full optimisation of the KIDP, adding that it would also reduce the cost of transporting containers from Lagos to Kaduna.
“So much cargo is coming to Kaduna but on trucks. It takes so much money to transport goods by trucks from Lagos to Kaduna. If it is by rail, the cost will drop by over 60 per cent,” he said.
He also said transporting containers by railway would eliminate the risks of diversion, goods tampering and also reduce the risks of accidents by more than 95 per cent.