Apapa port-Lagos-Ibadan rail project awaits inauguration by PMB

The over $1.6 billion Lagos-Ibadan railway project fully connected to the Apapa port in Lagos is awaiting inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC, disclosed in a statement that the linking of the port to the rail track was completed on Monday, January 25, 2020.

“On the morning of January 25, 2021, with the successful pouring of the last 25-metre monolithic track-bed superstructure of Apapa port breakbulk line, the Lagos-Ibadan railway was officially connected to the Apapa port in Lagos.

“The Apapa port spur line of Lagos-Ibadan railway starts from the Mobolaji Johnson Station, Ebute-Metta, and extends southward to Apapa port, with a total length of 8.72km.

“As a crucial channel linking the mainline of the Lagos-Ibadan railway to the port, it has become an important transportation passage for the import and export of goods and now serves as a significant guarantee with regard to the comprehensive operational efficiency of the railway”, the statement read.

Recall that, the idea of extending the new standard gauge rail line to the Apapa port was an addendum to the project.

It was meant to ease the Apapa gridlock by taking containers in and out of the port using the rail.

In the course of the construction, APTM , the terminal operator, had initially tried to prevent the contractor from penetrating the port on the account that the work was impeding port activities.

However, the intervention of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi restored sanity as he ordered the terminal operator to cooperate with the Chinese contractor to enable it to deliver the project on schedule.