Buhari to flag off Kaduna-Kano rail project Thursday

President Muhammadu Buhari will perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kaduna-Kano standard gauge rail line on Thursday.

Magdalene Ajani, permanent secretary in the ministry of transportation, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

The groundbreaking would take place at Zawaciki, Dawaki LGAs in Kano state.

The statement said the new rail project will further boost the president‘s programme of linking the country through rail in order to enhance the economic growth of the nation.

In June 2021, Buhari inaugurated the 157 kilometres Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway for commercial operations at the Mobolaji Johnson railway station, Ebute Metta, Lagos.

At the inauguration, Buhari pledged that his administration will prioritise the railway system as a transportation backbone that can transform industrial and economic activity in the country.

Also, in February, the president flagged off the Kano-Maradi railway project, following approval by the federal executive council.

The 248km railway project will start from Kano, pass through Dambatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi, Katsina, Jibia and terminate in Maradi.

Speaking on other projects at the event, Buhari said the eastern corridor of the country, the Port Harcourt–Enugu–Makurdi–Maiduguri rail line with branches to Owerri, Imo state and Damaturu, Yobe state have been awarded for reconstruction to include a deep seaport in Bonny Island and a railway industrial park in Port Harcourt.

He added that financial arrangements are being made with other partners on the West-East coastal rail line from Lagos to Calabar and linking Onitsha, Benin, Warri, Yenegao, Port Harcourt, Aba and Uyo.