NRC says narrow gauge rail lines still active

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says the narrow gauge track of the corporation is “alive and active”.

On Thursday, a media report said the nation’s narrow gauge rail lines were dead.

Reacting to the report, Yakub Mahmood, NRC deputy director of public relations, in a statement on Friday, said the commission disagrees with the publication.

Mahmood said the narrow gauge, known as the western and eastern line, which criss-cross from Lagos to Kano and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, was undergoing rehabilitation.

“On the western line, we have trains operating from Apapa and Iddo to Ijoko still running Mass Transit Train Service every day of the week, and is highly patronised by our esteemed passengers,” Mahmood said.

“We also carry freight containers from Apapa port and cement from Ewekoro to Ibadan and Osogbo. 

“This is in addition to the special passenger train chartered by the state government during the festive period on the same narrow gauge corridor.

“We have the Port-Harcourt to Aba Mass Transit Train that operates daily except on Mondays.

“He noted that the narrow gauge had never been out of train operations.

“The narrow gauge is certainly alive and active and we are still running our trains on it in various parts of the country.”

Mahmood also said the federal government was committed to the revitalisation of the entire nation’s railway assets.

He said the federal government will continue to ensure the modernisation of railways through the construction of standards and rehabilitation of narrow gauge lines across the country.

Mahmood, therefore, said the railway is still alive and actively in operation on both standard and narrow gauges.