Buhari Opens Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line For Services

The first phase of the Abuja-Kaduna Standard Rail Guage was yesterday opened for services by President Mohammadu Buhari with a promise to boost rail transportation in the country. Towards this end, his administration would pursue a 25-Year Strategic Railway Master Plan which is aimed at rehabilitating the existing 3,505km narrow gauge rail lines, and developing as well as constructing new standard gauge rail lines across the country. Though conceptualised by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006, the actual execution of the project started in 2009 under the administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in 2009. At the commissioning of the project yesterday, Buhari said the completion marked a major milestone in the annals of the country. “The construction of the Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge rail track commenced in 2009 and happily, seven years after, we are on the threshold of presenting to Nigerians a standard gauge railway train service that will be safe, fast and reliable. “The train service will provide the much-needed alternative transport link between the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State, a corridor which has a huge potential for industries, agricultural activities and a growing labour force. “This project was conceived by a previous administration, started by the last government and I am pleased to complete and commission it,” Buhari said. The president recalled that between 1963 and early 1980s, Nigeria had a vibrant rail system which conveyed agricultural, livestock and solid mineral resources to Lagos …Read More Source: The Guardian