The Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) at the weekend said it invested a total N3 billion in the acquisition of four brand new locomotives and two state-of-the –art telescopic cranes with 1800 caterpillar engine capacity.
The corporation has also kicked off the haulage of containers from Apapa Port, Lagos to Kano and Kaduna, which was halted over 10 years as a result of poor state of the rail tracks as well as non-availability train coaches.
Managing Director of NRC, Adeseye Sijuade, who briefed news men shortly after the offi cial commissioning of the locomotives, cranes and fl ag off of the container haulage, disclosed that each of the cranes was acquired at the cost of N1 billion, bringing to a total of N2 billion.
He also said that each of the four locomotives was acquired at the cost of N250 million, which brings to a total of N1 billion for the four locomotives. This brings the cumulative cost of the cranes, manufactured in Germany and locomotives manufactured in China to a total of N3billion.
The managing director also said that the re-instatement of the container haulage services was in line with the corporation's promise to assist in decongestion of the ports through massive movement of containers through the rails.
He also disclosed that the corporation has a projection of stocking 23 locomotives on its fl eet for the movement of cargo out of the nation's seaports to mitigate the impact of increased cargo throughput into the country.
It was also gathered that NRC will this month commence the haulage of Dangote Sugar and Cement to the northern part of the country, while plans are underway for the haulage of refi ned petroleum products to some parts of the country.
The NRC-boss however assured of the security of the cargo, which he said were all bonded and moved under heavy security to forestall possible attacks by hoodlums and criminals along the rail tracks while the goods are in transit.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, who conducted the offi cial fl ag off of the haulage services as well as the commissioning of the new equipment, noted that it was in line with the transformation agenda of the current administration.
According to him, it was also a demonstration of Federal Government unfl inching commitment to reposition the rail system in the country and to concretise its promise to revitalise the services, which have been halted across the country owing to dilapidated infrastructure, most of which have been put in form again.
The Minister, who was represented by chairman of the corporation, Kawo Baraje, also recalled that the government had last month re-introduced rail services along the Lagos- Kano corridor, adding that the re-introduction of container haulage to reassure Nigerians that rail services in the country will not be limited to passenger services alone.
While assuring the Nigeria Customs Service of smooth fl ow of cargo transportation, he disclosed that the corporation would acquire for new locomotives and additional 200 wagons before the end of the year in line with its determination to make transportation comfortable and affordable for Nigerians.
The Federal Government had recently developed a comprehensive master plan for high speed rail across the federation as part of its strategic plans for the development of rail infrastructure in Nigeria,
This is in line with its vision 20-20-20, through which it plans to launch the country into the league of one of the most 20 developed economies of the world come year 2020, said it is committed to the development of transport infrastructure, which it described as catalyst for the development of any economy.
Under the new master plan, which is part of 25-year development project for the rail system in the country covering the rehabilitation of the existing narrow gauge and construction of modern standard gauge, the government intends to run a six-structure plan for the high speed rail lines covering the length and breadth of the nation.
The six –structure rail system comprises of the Eagle Line, which covers the high sped line from Lagos – Oshogbo-Abuja- Gombe and then down to Maiduguri while the Southern Line covers from Enugu-Benin City- Ikeja Lagos down to Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, among others.
