Lagos District Manager of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Jerry Oche, has said that the standard gauge rail line inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in June will not be ready to transport shipping containers from the Lagos Port Complex Apapa until December.
During the inauguration ceremony of the new rail line on June 10, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said train services would be deployed to the Apapa port to evacuate container to the hinterland.
However, Oche told SHIPS & PORTS on Tuesday work in still ongoing to ensure full connectivity of the rail line to the port.
“On the premise of the Minister’s plan of solidifying a portion of the line that is weak due to rotting refuse that occupied it; the laying of the track would be completed in the next six month and that’s our target. So, by December, everything would have been set for a full-scale transportation of containers from Apapa port to Ibadan,” he said.