The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi disclosed that the Federal Government has finalized plans to compel cargo transporters plying the Lagos/Ibadan highway to use the railway system.
According to News Telegraph report, he said the idea was to preserve the Lagos/Ibadan road when the railway reconstruction, which links the Western and Northern parts of the country, is completed.
Amaechi made the statement while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister also said, effective from June 2019, the railway project would be completed and fully operational.
“We believe that by next year, we will begin to encourage those who transport by trucks between Lagos and Ibadan to use the rail. We believe that before the end of June, we will start running from January but, we may not be able to carry enough cargo, we will be able to do that by June/July.
“At that point, most of the trucks carrying cargo going to Ibadan must be on the rail, so that we can save the Lagos/Ibadan road,” Amaechi stressed.
He further stated that the FEC approved the contract for the building of a National freight office in Jibia, a border town between Katsina State and Niger Republic.
“We awarded the National freight office in Jibia for the sum of N551,810,060 and the contract is to last for 36 weeks. You know that the National freight office is usually located at the border post. So, the border post between Katsina and Niger Republic, that is where it is located,” he said.