On Wednesday, Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi went on a monthly inspection tour of the 156km Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project.
The train which departed the Iddo station before midday with the minister and top management staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) stopping at various stations along the project line to get updates from the contractors on the quality and progress report of the construction work.
The rail tracks for the 156km rail project have been completed but the stations are still under construction.
Trading along the rail tracks still seem to be a challenge as observed at Agege and Oshodi stations where traders are seen in clusters close to the rail line.
The Lagos-Ibadan railway, one of the major projects embarked on by the Federal Government, is being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
These are pictures from various train stations across Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.
Obafemi Awolowo station in Ibadan, Oyo State
Ladoke Akintola Station in Omio-Adio, Oyo State
Aremo Olusegun Osoba Station in Olodo, Ogun State
Prof. Wole Soyinka Station in Abeokuta, Ogun State
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Station in Papalanto, Ogun State
Yemi Osinbajo Station in Kajola, Ogun State
Babatunde Raji Fashola Station in Agege, Ikeja
Lateef Jakande Station in Alagbado, Lagos State
The Lagos-Ibada Railway is a $1.53 billion contract that was awarded in 2012 to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for construction of the Lagos–Ibadan segment (156 km) of the standard gauge railway by 2016.
The project has faced a series of delays. A ground-breaking ceremony finally took place on 7 March 2017, and the railway was scheduled for completion in December 2018. Construction was delayed by heavy rains in Spring 2018, and the Nigerian government had to deploy soldiers to protect the railway workers from hoodlums and armed robbers.
Construction was further delayed by the 2019 Nigerian general election when CCECC evacuated its Chinese employees as a precaution.
The railway is now scheduled for completion in December 2020