Several railway projects worth over $21.3bn (about N16 trillion) across the country have stalled due to lack of funding, findings by Daily Trust have revealed. The development is threatening the federal government’s railway modernisation programme designed to connect all states of the federation. The projects include the Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Railway ($5.3bn); $11.17bn Lagos-Calabar coastal railway project; $3.02bn rehabilitation project for the Eastern Line (Port Harcourt-Maiduguri) and the $1.9bn Kano-Maradi railway project. All the projects were incorporated in the 25-year railway roadmap unveiled during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo which will expire in 2025. It would be recalled that in 2016, China and Nigeria signed an agreement for the over $11 billion contract to build the coastal railway which was to start before the end of 2018. While the project did not take off, the federal government at the same time flagged off the Lagos-Ibadan project which is 157km and completed it in record time. Meanwhile, the minister yesterday assured that the Customs building obstructing the standard gauge to Apapa Ports would be removed in three months’ time. Speaking during a meeting with the management and leaders of the Nigerian Railway Workers (NUR) at the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) headquarters, the minister also assured of the commitment of the Bola Tinubu-led administration to the railway modernisation programme. He also gave the Nigerian Railway Corporation three weeks to complete the operationalization of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Train Station at Apapa. Daily Trust reports that the Customs building had stalled the linkage to the Apapa Port forcing the NRC to temporarily bypass it and create a track in order to start freight services on the Lagos-Ibadan Railway.
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