By Olayemi Esan
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has announced the date to resume operation of the Lagos to Kano States train service, and other routes.
The Regional District Manager, Northern District of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Ismail Adebiyi made the announcement on Sunday.
According to the NRC Manager, the Lagos-Kano train service will go into operation from Friday, Aug. 13.
He made this known in Zaria, Kaduna State, saying the train would leave Lagos on Friday evening and arrive in Kano on Sunday morning.
Adebiyi said also that the corporation had concluded plans to restart the Kaduna to Kafanchan and Kaduna to Kano train service before the end of August.
He added that it would rehabilitate 100 wagons to further strengthen the rail sector within the next two months.
He explained that 21 of the rehabilitated wagons would be used in the northern district of the rail service comprising Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Katsina and Zamfara states.
He said the Kano to Nguru (Yobe State) train service was still active and that plans were at advanced stage to enhance the traffic on the route by returning coaches that were dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The regional district manager said the Minna-Kaduna rail mass transit had also been active for the past one month and that patronage was increasing on every trip. The service runs on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
The train leaves Minna at 7 a.m. and leaves Kaduna at about 2.30 p.m.
He added that since most of the routes were on narrow gauge, the corporation would strengthen its maintenance work to ensure hitch-free operations
Adebiyi stressed that the corporation had strengthened its collaboration with key security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to address vandalism on Railway properties.
He commended the Federal Government for boosting rail service and enjoined Nigerians to take advantage of the new posture.
