Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi disclosed this in Abuja during the inauguration of recently elected members of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA), that the Lagos-Ibadan railway line would be inaugurated in January.
He said:
“I have received the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the Lagos/Ibadan rail project by January 2021 which will make Nigerians see what the standard gauge railway is like.
“Today (yesterday) I approved the charges on passengers from Lagos to Ibadan; we just transferred what we charge from Abuja to Kaduna.
“We charge N3,000 per Economy seat, N5,000 for Business class, and N6,000 for First class, the same is applicable to Lagos to Ibadan.
“It should have started running by now before Mr. President inaugurates it by January.”
According to the company building the $1.5bn scheme, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), said it completed track-laying on the 156km project in March this year.
“A stunning victory! The track laying work on the main line for the Lagos–Ibadan railway has been completed at 12:08p.m. on 28 March. This marks the fact the railway is getting one step closer to opening to traffic,”
The Minister further stated that Buhari was a committed reformer determined to change the face of transportation in the country.
“In the transport sector under this government, a lot is going on, like working to complete the terminals under aviation. I am sure you would have seen changes at the Port Harcourt airport and Abuja. I am sure the Minister of Aviation will tell us very soon when the airport in Kano and the one in Lagos would be completed.”
