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Emma Sunday, Port Harcourt
The Federal Government, has officially flagged off the commencement of commercial services on the 62.0 kilometers of the Port-Harcourt to Aba section of the 1443 km Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge rail project.
The Minister of Transportation, Senator Sa’id Alkali, performed the flag-off at the Railway Corporation station in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Alkali in his address said the ceremony was part of the intensified drive by the Federal Government to facilitate trade, enhance mobility and accessibility, and ensure connectivity between the southern parts of the country and the northeastern part of the country.
The Minister who explained that the Port Harcourt to Aba section is the first segment of the Eastern narrow gauge which he explained covers five geopolitical zones of the country.
He said, “We give God the glory that we are here to commission the train service from Port Harcourt to Aba. And to thank the Commander-in-Chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support and commitment to the Ministry of Transportation, out of his desire to bring succour to the people of this great country. “We are aware that transportation is one of the priority area of the Tinubu administration.
“This is the third time I am in Port Harcourt in respect to this project. Immediately I took over as the Minister of Transportation, I went out to visit all the project under the ministry. I was in Port Harcourt when the project was at it’s early stage, not far from Port Harcourt town and I came back about 3 weeks ago to see the performance of the project. I extracted commitment from the contractor that we are going to put the segment into use, and here we are today.
“The Eastern narrow gauge covers five geopolitical zones of the country. It covers South South, South East, North Central, North West and North East. It means a lot to the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Am happy that today one segment is being put to use, and this is the first presence of the Railway Corporation in the South South.
“So, we are prepared, we are going to ride on the train from Port Harcourt to Aba, and from today, the passenger train will commence.”
The Minister said, with the completion of the first segment of the project and commencement of commercial operations, the completion work will continue in earnest to link up the remaining sections of the rail line.
“By the grace of God Almighty, from Aba, we are going to proceed to Enugu, and from Port Harcourt to Onne Port and Port Harcourt Port so that we will be able to put freight service in the haulage.
“The ministry is considering a lot of things, as we speak, we have engaged an investor on retrofitting our locomotive from diesel to CNG to further bring down the cost of transportation.”
He however assured that the government is putting measures in place to ensure adequate security of lives along the rail line.
