The Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail tracks will be ready in February, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Managing Director Fidet Okhiria said yesterday. Okhiria, who spoke at Ijoko in Ogun State during the routine inspection of the $1.7 billion project, said by February 7, the corporation will begin a test-run of the tracks.
The managing director said the first phase of the project, which is meant to link Lagos with Abeokuta, is on course and will be achieved within the next 10 days. According to him, the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), has completed the laying of tracks from Kajola (Kilometre 41, and Abeokuta, Kilometre 79), while efforts to get the project to Iju in Lagos will be achieved by February 7.
He said: “The contractors have said their equipment could lay 1.5 kilometres per day. That means they could achieve the 10-kilometre distance between Kajola and Iju within seven days, and we can start the test-run of the tracks, latest by February 7.” Okhiria expressed satisfaction with the speed of the contractors, adding that with the civil works between Kajola and Iju completed, work would go on unhindered on the laying of tracks.
