The Federal Government has asked the Chinese Railway Rolling stock Corporation Qishuyan, the firm in charge of the construction of locomotives for Nigeria, to speed up its work, as the tracks of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line where the locomotives are to be deployed will be ready soon.
According to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, a significant section of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line is secheduled for completion by the end of May or the first week in June.
Amaechi, who disclosed this when he led a delegation from Nigeria on an inspection tour of the CRRC in China, stated that Nigeria needed the locomotives before the completion of work on the rail line by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
The minister was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by the Federal Ministry of Transportation as saying, “Make it faster to construct these locomotives because we need them now.
“By end of May and first week in June, CCECC would have completed work on the tracks. What this visit has shown is that there is neither locomotives nor coaches that are ready. So if you speed up the process, we will be grateful.”
The Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidel Okhiria, said the designs for the locomotives had been completed and CRRC had started making the components.
He said, “We are expecting four motorcade for the Diesel Multiple Units, eight locomotives for passengers and seven other locomotives for freight. Eight coaches with two motorcade forms a set, while the passenger coaches are independent.
“The engines we are expecting are going to be more modern and encased so that the technicians can work whether rain or shine.”
The General Manager, CRRC Qishuyan Co., Ltd, Xu Shibao, said his firm would do its best for the training and after sales service in Nigeria.
Shibao told the Nigerian delegation that the company would further contribute to the development of Nigeria’s railway.
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