…as Ogun Gov Assures Passengers Of Security
All is now set for the commissioning of the Lagos – Ibadan rail corridor on Thursday, June 10 in Lagos, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a last inspection of the multi-million dollar rail project
Specifically, the President will commission the project at Mobolaji Johnson Railway Station in Ebute Metta, Lagos and also launch the Integrated National Maritime Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure (Deep Blue Assets).
This was as the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, assured passengers on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line of round-the-clock security, as commercial services resume on the strategic corridor.
The Governor gave the assurance in company of the Minister, Wednesday.
Speaking in Abeokuta during the tour, Abiodun said: “This is a world-class station, it has VIP area, waiting area, elevators, conveniences and other things.
“I believe that in our collective opinion, this is a job well done. I want to appreciate the president and applaud the minister on a well-implemented and coordinated project.
“This project for us goes beyond what is seen today, it is yet another opportunity toaboutide multi-modal transportation for our indigenes to benefit which fits into our master plan.”
The governor also said more trains would be deployed to the line to ease the movement of passengers and cargoes.
“I want to enjoin our indigenes to begin to patronise this service. We are reliably informed that extra trains will commence operation from tomorrow and the minister has assured that there will be an increased number of services.
Highlighting some observations, Abiodun noted thus: “We have observed that the trains are a bit slow and we have been informed that that is for safety reasons because people need to get used to the train service.
“We also observed the issue of security and we believe that it will be secured because at times, we have cattle and people crossing the rail lines and the minister assured us that they will do their part.
“We are going to provide security, the lines will be secured, so passengers should not worry about security.”
On movement of goods, he said: “We will be transporting passengers and goods. There are about three freight stations and we don’t doubt that our manufacturers will take advantage of this to load their containers, receive their containers and also export at these stations.
“We have set up a committee comprising of people from our ministry of transportation and federal ministry of transportation to iron out the grey areas that will further enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of this service.”
He thanked the president for thinking through the project and approving funds for it.
He also commended the minister for the initiative.
