The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, has said President Muhammadu Buhari will perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the Eastern rail corridor in the country’s ongoing railway modernisation on March 9.
This was the high point f his inspection tour to all the stations from Mobolaji Johnson Station at Ebute Metta to Ibadan station yesterday, also said Buhari had approved the redirecting of the Eastern line to two new spurs. The minister, in a statement yesterday by the Director of Press of the ministry, Mr. Eric Ejiekwe, identified the two spurs as Abakaliki, Ebonyi State and Awka, Anambra State.
He added that the federal government has approved the commencement of the Port Harcourt – Kano rail project and is also negotiating loans for the Lagos-Calabar rail project. On the take-off of the Ibadan-Kano rail project, Amaechi said the government was seeking approval for a loan to enable it to take off. On the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, Amaechi stated that he had challenged Messrs. China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) to deploy global acceptable safety and security standards for the project. He directed that the central cooling system be installed in all the major train stations along the route.
