Nigerian leader vows to transform railway system

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Tuesday that his administration had intensified efforts to modernize and transform the nation's railway system for national prosperity and development.

The president, who spoke at the inauguration of Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger service for intra-city Kaduna, about 220 kilometers north of Abuja, said transforming and modernizing the rail system would facilitate national growth and development.

He said that in the last 30 years, the railway sector had suffered neglect by previous administrations.

Jonathan said the present administration had rekindled hope in the lives of Nigerians and assured that effective and efficient rail system would continue to be their priority.

Earlier, state governor Muktar Yero observed that the railway system was the most affordable and easy means of transportation.

He said the state government had worked hard to improve its transportation system by acquiring and distributing vehicles to commuters to ease the transport system.

Similarly, Minister of Transport Idris Umar advocated a Private- Public Partnership (PPP) to make the system functional.

Umar said nine railway stations would be remodeled to suit the PPP arrangement.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Adeseyi Sijuade, said the intra-city services would be run jointly by the NRC and the Kaduna State Government to enhance transport efficiency in the city.

Sijuade said the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line would be launched in the first quarter of 2015.

According to him, the standard gauge which travels at 180 kilometers per hour can comfortably enable workers to work in Abuja but live in Kaduna.

He also said the DMU train which moves at 100 kilometers per hour has the capacity to carry 540 passengers at a time. Enditem