All is now set for the official commissioning of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway by Pres. Buhari On Thursday in Lagos State.
The Personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on broadcast media, Mr. Buhari Sallau says President Muhammadu Buhari will be commissioning the Lagos-Ibadan railway (Ebute Metta Station), tomorrow, Thursday.
He disclosed this on Wednesday, June 9 via his official Facebook page.
He wrote, “President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow, commission the 156km Lagos—Ibadan standard gauge railway line in Lagos, the first double-track standard gauge rail in West Africa, and the first Nigerian railway line to be started and completed by the same administration, since 1960.”
According to him, The Ebute Metta Station, known as the Mobolaji Johnson Station, is the largest railway station in West Africa with a holding capacity of 6000 passengers.
He added that President Buhari is committed to developing a modern national railway network that will connect every part of Nigeria, and promote trade, travel, tourism, commerce and national integration.
The Lagos-Ibadan Railway
The Lagos-Ibadan railway is a $1.53 billion contract 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.
However, the project has also faced 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.
Progress was slowed in 2020 by the social distancing needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as only 20 workers were present on construction sites that once held 200. The railway began passenger-carrying trial operations on December 7, 2020, with a single round-trip per day in the initial phase.
The 156-km journey taken 2:40, which is scheduled to be cut to only 2 hours by the official opening.
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