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THE federal government has expressed its commitment to provide standard gauge rail service between Lagos and Ibadan by the fourth quarter of 2018, Rotimi Amaechi, minister of Transportation, has said.
He spoke after assessing the project at Ijoko, in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government area of Ogun State. Amaechi said: “We have said 2018 and that is a presidential directive. By December 2018, we want to see locomotives running from Lagos to Ibadan. We are committed to achieving this and the fund obtained from China Exim Bank is already on ground to ensure that nothing obstructs this timeline.
“Primary constraint the contractor identified are the height of two pedestrian bridges in Lagos (at Oshodi and Ikeja), and an ongoing flyover bridge at Ijoko. The second problem was the multiplicity of level crossing on the rail’s right of way. The contractor said they could not proceed on laying the rail tracks until those impediments are sorted out.”
The minister, who briefed reporters on site with Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, said as soon as the issues of the flyover height and others associated with the right-of-way were addressed, actual work would begin on the project.
He said while the project would need a minimum height of 6.5 metres, the identified bridges were about 4.5 metres high.
Amaechi further said that the height of the bridge would have to be raised higher to accommodate future electrification of the train’s right-of-way.
Both the minister and governor said that engineers from the contractor and the Ministry of Work and the Ministry of Transportation should meet on the best way to resolve the logjam.
The minister said the governor approved the closure of the two roads abutting the bridge to allow unhindered operation around the train’s right-of-way.
“The engineers are going to meet from today and we will also meet by Wednesday. So, by Friday, I would be meeting with Governor Amosun on the best option identified by the engineers and that’s what we’re going to take,” he said.
Thanking the federal government for coming up finally with the standard gauge project, Amosun said Ogun State was committed to working with the government to resolve all the challenges to achieve the modern train service.
— Jul 11, 2017 @ 13:25 GMT
Tags: federal government Governor Ibikunle Amosun gun State Lagos-Ibadan Rail Ready Next Year – Amaechi minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi
