The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has said the upcoming Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar standard gauge lines will generate at least 250,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The contracts for both lines are expected to be awarded this year as N120 billion has been proposed in the 2016 budget as counterpart funding.
The bulk of the financing will come from China EXIM Bank. The minister made this known to reporters in Abuja after an inspection train ride on Saturday from Kaduna to Abuja. He said the 186km Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge track will cost about $1 billion and when operational, will see commuters travel to Kaduna from Abuja in just about one and half hours.
According to him, this would even make some Nigerians live in Kaduna and work in Abuja. The minister also disclosed that the narrow gauge rail line from Lagos to Kano will be concessioned to General Electric (GE) if the current discussions end successfully.
He also assured that Nigerians will be trained both in operations and maintenance on the project.
“Key to me and the ministry is that, training must start today. CCECC has to train Nigerians who will take over both in operations and maintenance so they don’t dump technology on us. It’s not every time a train goes bad that you go to China to fix it,” he said.
According to him, this would even make some Nigerians live in Kaduna and work in Abuja. The minister also disclosed that the narrow gauge rail line from Lagos to Kano will be concessioned to General Electric (GE) if the current discussions end successfully.
He also assured that Nigerians will be trained both in operations and maintenance on the project.
“Key to me and the ministry is that, training must start today. CCECC has to train Nigerians who will take over both in operations and maintenance so they don’t dump technology on us. It’s not every time a train goes bad that you go to China to fix it,” he said.
Credit: DailyTrust
