Linkage of state capitals and industrial zones by rails panacea for meaningful Development-NRC

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has said the country can only have meaningful development when state capitals and industrial zones are linked by rails.
It, however, decried the spate of vandalism on its tracks in the eastern district by hoodlums, saying it hampered development and operation of the rail system in the zone.

The Managing Director of the Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, who spoke on weekend while opening the rehabilitated railway hospital in Enugu, regretted that while government was looking for fund to rehabilitate railway system to grow the economy, vandals destroyed them.
Okhiria, while fielding questions from newsmen on while the Enugu to Port-Harcourt train was grounded, said, “The reason while the eastern corridor is not functional is due to vandalism of tracks by hoodlums.”

He said, “Can you imagine people removing and vandalising the rail. How would we run the train because we have to go back, recover those things and put the track back? If an accident happened and we lost a locomotive, where am I going to get locomotive again, a locomotive is over $4m.

Earlier, the Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Communion, The Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, had urged the Federal Government and the NRC management to refurbish Enugu to Port-Harcourt train service to complement the hospital.