The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, on Thursday said the Abuja-Kaduna rail modernization project had been completed and set for use.
Amaechi, accompanied by National Working Committee (NWC) members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated this while taking a final tour on the project in Abuja.
According to him, embarking on this final tour has given the assurance that everything is in place and set for flag-off on July 26.
He announced that N500 had been proposed as fare for economy coaches, while those that would travel in business coaches would pay N1000.
“We are ready to go; from the things we have seen today, we are set to go.
“This test run has been on for over a month.
“We said it was going to run for two weeks but we allowed it for six weeks so that everybody can use it.
“After the President has commissioned it, we will then begin to charge passengers. Passengers suggested N500 on economy coaches and I will do that.
“One of the reasons why we did not commission earlier is because we wanted the train to run for at least a month and check if there will be any problem.
“We have done that for over a month and there was no problem,’’ he said.
The minister said that Kubwa station of the rail line recorded more turn out of passengers due to easy access, while Idu had less passengers because of distance “and no concrete arrangement for shuttle buses’’.
“Passengers have turned Kubwa to their main station, so we don’t need to make the arrangement of transporting people down to Idu station anymore.
“The passengers have found solution to their problems and they don’t need to be transported to Idu before they board the train to Kaduna.
“People on their own have devised a means of boarding the train from Kubwa, and Kubwa presently has the highest number of passengers.’’
In his remarks, National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said that the NWC members of the party joined the minister on the inspection to ensure that the project was fully completed.
He said that with what was on ground, the project was set for inauguration and had shown the commitment of the present administration to complete the old project.
“What we came for was to make sure that they are ready to roll and they are ready to go; this is a projection of what is yet to come.
“The commitment of this administration is to extend this railway to all the important economic centres, which has already started and is not going to stop until it is completed.
“This particular project has been a major concern of the president; the last administration started it with the tracks but the minister made it functional and ready for commercial activities,’’ the chairman said. (NAN)
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