This is the final boarding announcement: the train from Kaduna to Abuja is now ready for departure.
This will become a familiar announcement from July, Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, has promised.
He assured Nigerians on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari will ensure the sustenance of the Abuja-Kaduna rail project, which was initiated by administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
After a brief inspection and test ride in Abuja, Amaechi said the project will be completed and should be ready for use in July.
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“Is it sustainable? The answer is yes because it’s on its own. If you say whether it will be subsidized, it will be. We are working out the details of how much it will cost to carry passengers and to maintain it,” he said.
“We are looking at bringing Mr. President to commission in July. In two weeks time, they will do the test run of the track without passengers, after that two weeks, it will take another two weeks to do test run with passengers and it will be free of charge and that will take us to the end of June. Which means by first week in July, we believe that the president will come and flag it off for commercial service,” he said.
“At the beginning we had done the test run but then it wasn’t completed. Today it has been completed. So today is the first test run that we are doing on the completed standard gauge. The signaling, communication, stations are all completed now so you can actually technically say today is the first day of test running the completed project.”
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He said his ministry will partner with the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure smooth registration of passengers without hitches.
11 comments
You want to subsidize it when it is not available in other parts of the country? Now it will be avalaible to move beggers and almajari’s in droves to Abuja. The government should charge commercial fare in order to pay back the loans and build a similar rail lines from Warri/Benin, Onitsha/Enugu, Sokoto all to Abuja.
Am waiting for u to tell the gov how much they should charge so that the beggars and the almajiris won’t be able to afford it,like beggar no be human being,why not tell the gov that they should make u and ur family the only user of the train instead of forbidding the almajiris#racist
I am more concerned with terror on the tracks .How are they going to protect the tracks from Boko Haram insurgency and the Fulani herdsmen?
Lol. Where do you leave and stay? Don’t you know where the track ???? through?
you are right my brother.
Amaechi refused to mention that it was a project undertaken by Goodluck Jonathan’s corrupt government and the first of its kind in Nigeria. That means basically a product of corruption. And he Saint Amaechi and Buhari are taking pride in this product of Corruption.
Read again!!!
Sorry but there is a very big difference between initiated and undertaken.
@B, Initiated in that contest meant started. Pls verify when the project was started and the duration of the project before you deny PMB their part of the success of the story. Listen as long as contractual terms are kept by Client and Contractor, project will be completed as per duration. The most important is that the project is completed. Quality and maintenance is now left for you and I to appraise. We have heard cases of National Stadium Abuja overgrown with Bushes (or grazing reserve..lol. Objectivity is key. PMB government is making progress and we need to give kudos or knock where required for improvement.
Nigerians!!! When are you going to be matured to stop bringing sentiment and tribalism in any issue. What are you really benefiting when you insult another tribe ?Please let’s think wisely and move forward.
Wow! Many thanks to Goodluck Jonathan ,we are starting enjoying one of his numerous achievements.