Itakpe-Warri rail line to commence activities July – NRC

Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has reiterated its commitment to commence commercial activities on the Itakpe-Warri rail line by July.

Mr Fidet Okhiria, Managing Director, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, there are issues with the community which took the contractors out of the site.

“The matter was resolved just last week with the contractors now back to site.

“So, the Itakpe-Warri rail line is ongoing as planned; we had a meeting to review the progress so far, we have also resolved the issues on ground like that of the community.

“So, the contractors have moved to site, they are working on six stations now and the access roads have to be built.

“For now, materials will be moved to site by rail and we are still hopeful that they will meet up with the deadline of June 2018.

“We are looking at the first week of July to commence commercial activities, “ he said.

Okhiria further stated that a total of 12 stations would be built, noting that the contractors was working on six already.

He also gave the assurance that by the end of May all the stations would have been completed.

He said 20 bridges would be built on that route, stating that 10 bridges are currently under construction while the remaining 10 would be completed before August.

The managing director added that the bridges will not stop the commencement of the train because the basic things for the rail to run is the track, stations and signals.

The NRC boss also said that seven coaches were deployed for the Itakpe-warri rail.

He pointed out that with the congestion of the VIP coach at the Abuja-Kaduna rail line, one coach would be taken to that route.

He, however, said the railway village in Agbor would be refurbished, adding that NRC was encouraging its staff to live there in order to maintain the infrastructure.