Cargo Delivery By Rail To Kaduna Dry Port Starts Tuesday

The Federal Government has concluded plans to introduce cargo delivery by rail to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port.

Mr Tahir Idris, Director, Special Duties, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) said in a statement on Sunday, in Abuja, that the inauguration was scheduled to hold on May 7, at the facility’s premises in Kakuri, Kaduna State.

Idris said in the statement that Mr Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of NSC, had disclosed that connecting the railway to the dry port “is a watershed to the facility”.

Bello said that the Council would also hold an interactive session with all relevant stakeholders immediately after the event themed: “Optimising the Kaduna dry port as key to Nigeria economic diversification”.

He said the rail facility would lead to the full optimization of the Kaduna inland dry port, adding that it would also drive down significantly the cost of transporting containers from Lagos to Kaduna

“So much cargo is coming to Kaduna, but on trucks. It takes so much money to transport goods by trucks from Lagos to Kaduna, If it is by rail, the cost will drop by over 60 percent,” he said.

He also said transporting containers by railway would eliminate the risks of diversion, goods tampering and also reduce the risks of accidents by more than 95 percent, thus driving down the cost of insuring cargo to Kaduna as a point of entry.

Bello noted that with a reduced cost of transporting the goods, the cost of goods will reduce which will further curb inflation.

According to him, hundreds of trucks will be taken off the roads thus leading to longer roads life span and fewer accidents due to activities of truck drivers.

He added that this should also reduce significantly the traffic gridlock on Apapa road in Lagos.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Nasir El-Rufai and Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi will inaugurate the service.

The Lagos-Ibadan Rail Line Taking Shape - Photos

Recently, we did a reportage of the Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project and how work is on-going, we can now say work is going at a fast pace at the 156km Lagos-Ibadan Double Track Standard Gauge Rail Line. These are pictures from the site. Remember the project was awarded in 2017 with an estimated price of $1.5 billion which is about (450billion naira). So far the laying of tracks have commenced, but the question now is for how long and will can they meet the 2019 projection being set by the minister of transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amechi?