– Begins commercial cargo freight services from Apapa on standard gauge in July
– Stops Lagos-Kano train shuttle due to insecurity
By Adeyinka Aderibigbe
Ahead of the completion of the Apapa end of the Lagos-Ibadan double lane standard gauge, scores of importers, exporters and their representatives have started indicating interest in freighting their cargoes by the train from the nation’s premier port.
The Minister of State for Transportation Sen. Gbemisola Saraki had during an inspection of the project last week given an indication that the track’s linkage to the ports would be completed by month end to enable freight service on the corridor.
She indicated that the Nigeria Customs Service building housing the radioactive scanners which was obstructing the project would be pulled down for the completion of the project by month end.
The Minister’s revelation, our reporter gathered, has led to renewed interest by corporate organisations who have been bombarding the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) with enquiries on freight service.
Many importers, exporters and their clearing agents representatives, The Nation further gathered are considering opting for the cargo service to avoid the congestion in the clearing of containers due to the epileptic services of the electronic call up system, which has not improved services at the ports owing to congestion, which still takes weeks and in some cases months, coupled with the poor state of the Apapa access roads.
The Lagos District Manager of the NRC Engr Augustine Arisa, in a chat with reporters at the weekend said business will commence on a new note from July 1, when the corporation hopes to resume commercial operation on the standard gauge operation at the port in accordance with the minister’s directive.
Already, ahead of the development, the corporation is witnessing a deluge of enquiries from Nigerians especially business entities interested in the freight services on the Lagos Standard gauge.
“Hopefully from July, the corporation would be able to better serve the Inland Dry Port at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and many businesses in that axis, even up to the Northern parts of the country could have their cargoes freighted to Ibadan Inland Dry Port from where they will transship it to their final destination,” Arisa said.
He said the corporation is being inundated daily with enquiries from corporate entities eager to see the NRC assist them in lifting their containers to and from the ports as soon as the standard gauge was completed.
He explained that, “There has been a surge since the minister’s visit last week from Nigerians who are eager to start using the standard gauge to move their cargoes.”
He said freight services on the standard gauge would only be limited to Ibadan for now, but hopes to eventually get to Kano when the Ibadan to Kano end of the standard gauge is completed. Presently however, it would be able to complement the existing freight service on the old narrow gauge which carries two rakes of containers on a daily basis. A rake contains no fewer than 19 40- feet containers.
Arisa further said, “We carry one rake of cargo daily from Apapa Ports to any of the four terminals within our premises at Ebute Meta, on the narrow gauge. Sometimes we carry more than one rake. What this means is that we take at least 19 containers off the road every day and the beauty is that we also help the importer or exporter return empties back to the terminal operators the same way which helps decongest the roads.”
He said the train is the best form of transportation option for cargoes as it ensures the safety of the goods.
He said: “I can tell you the use of trains to ferry goods is the best. Our rates are cheaper while the volume of containers you can carry is higher.”
He said on the narrow gauge the corporation has continued freight services shuttling between Apapa and the four terminals within the Ebute Metta Junction (EBJ), where customers can pick up their containers to their various destinations within and outside Lagos.
This is just as he confirmed that the corporation has suspended the weekly Lagos-Kano train service over lingering insecurity issues, even as it has reduced the Lagos-Ibadan train service to two daily movements due to reduced passenger flow and high cost of diesel.
He traced the drop in passenger patronage to the after effect of the sad attack on the Kaduna bound train service earlier this year, adding that since the incident, passenger traffic on all rail networks had dropped.
He however expressed the corporation’s assurances that the railway, despite the threats, remained the safest, most affordable and reliable means of movement for passengers as well as cargoes.