Kayode Opeifa, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has disclosed that the federal government will soon rollout a comprehensive railway expansion plan with plans to connect several cities across the nation.
Opeifa while making remarks on Saturday during ‘Sunrise Daily’ a flagship program on ChannelsTv disclosed that the planned rail lines will connect more cities and will be unprecedented in the history of the country.
“States are even receiving grants from the national government to develop their rail lines, and Lagos State is utilising track access on the Red Line,” he said.
“Kaduna is coming on board very soon, Niger is supporting us on the narrow gauge, except for the recent Mokwa flooding that caused disruption. The plan was to take rail, this festival, three days ago, to Minna, Ilorin, and Offa, so they are supporting that initiative.”
The NRC Managing Director also noted Ogun State’s rail link and highlighted new projects, including the Jos-Bukuru line in Plateau State.
“That is because this government supported the removal of rail from the exclusive list to the concurrent list. So, state governments can now not only develop rail on their own, but they are also being supported by grants,” he explained.
“In the current budget, 400 billion naira was allocated to support states. I know some states have already benefited.”
“What this government is doing is ensuring that the burden is no longer solely on the national government. However, the national government still owes a duty to every Nigerian to connect the cities.”
He also noted that government is making efforts to develop railway infrastructure in all regions with plans now in top gear for the southwest, Southeast, and Northeast.
