Abuja – January 11, 2024 – Viewpoint Housing News.
the contractor in charge of laying The Eastern Narrow Railway project’s track-, which is, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), has announced that, the track-laying on the corridor’s Port Harcourt to Aba segment is now complete.
This was disclosed by CCECC in a statement that was posted on the company’s official website on Wednesday.
“New year, new advancements The tracks laying from Port Harcourt to Aba on the Nigeria Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway project has been completed,” A portion of the statement said.
During an interactive end-of-year session in Lagos, Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, promised that the lines connecting Port Harcourt to Aba on the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri route will be completed within 15 days.
An essential part of the country’s rail system, the Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway may significantly increase communication between regional railroads, ports, and cities.
Track construction is now underway along the Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri Railway route, which, when completed, has significant potential to support the nation’s social and economic advancement.
Former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi had announced the commencement of reconstruction of the Eastern Narrow Railway.
On March 10, 2021, the Federal Government agreed with a syndicate of Chinese financers to kickstart a $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Eastern Railway project.
The Federal Government is expected to provide 15 per cent of the $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction cost, while the Chinese syndicate takes up the rest.
In September 2023, the Transport Minister, Saidu Alkali, decried the slow pace of CCECC on the reconstruction of the Eastern Railway corridor, attributing it to the contractor’s use of the manual alignment process of track laying.
The Eastern Railway, when completed will connect Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno States by rail.
