The Federal Government is set to unveil a comprehensive National Railway Development Roadmap aimed at achieving rail connectivity across all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr. Kayode Opeifa, announced this on Wednesday at the Seventh National Transport Conference of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA), held at NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja.
Dr. Opeifa said the roadmap is designed to allow all states access to the national rail corridors at no additional cost, following recent constitutional amendments that moved railway development to the concurrent legislative list. He noted that Lagos and Plateau States are already leveraging this policy, while other states are encouraged to join the initiative. “We are saying where there is a national rail asset, states should make use of it. The line is available from Lagos to Kano. If your state is along this corridor, you can run services on the line. Lagos and Plateau are already doing this and we are open to working with others,” he said. Opeifa added that Ogun and Oyo States have both narrow and standard gauge networks available for use, while Edo, Delta, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, and Niger States can connect seamlessly to existing national rail corridors.
He also highlighted the ongoing expansion of freight-by-rail services, noting that the NRC is currently transporting increased volumes of containerized cargo, gypsum, soda ash, cement, metal coils, and materials for the AKK Pipeline Project. Speaking on the Corporation’s long-term development framework, tagged *Vision 2-5-10-20*, Opeifa explained that the plan targets optimization of national rail assets within two years, transition to electric traction by the fifth year, doubling of national rail capacity within ten years, and achieving at least 60,000 kilometers of rail network across the country within 20 years.
Source: https://theeyewitnessnews.com/
