The commencement of the operations of the long-awaited rail services in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, has become a reality following President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration of the recently-completed first phase of the Abuja light rail project on Thursday.
The statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Cosmas Uzodinma, described the 45.2km standard guage rail line from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the Abuja Metro Station as the first of its kind in West Africa.
According to the statement, the project had been in the works for over 11 years. It was for long envisaged that its inauguration would mark the formal commencement of rail service and the fulfillment of a long-awaited dream for a modern state-of-the-art mass transit system for the FCT.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Secretary of the FCT, Kayode Opeifa, has expressed optimism that most of the transport gridlock in Abuja would soon disappear with the emergence of the rail system. Mr. Opeifa, a former Commissioner for Transport in Lagos State, denied suggestions made by critics that the transport situation in Abuja could relapse into worse conditions.
According to him: “The Abuja rail system is as advanced as any in the developed world and it is designed to provide speed and comfort to the passengers within the FCT and serve as a delight to tourists.”
Mr. Opeifa, who stated that the project was financed through counterpart-funding with the China Export Import Bank on the basis of 60 per cent by the Chinese and 40 per cent by the FCT administration, said the project that took more than a decade to complete, “will link 13 communities with 12 stations at the Abuja Metro, Stadium, Kukwaba 1 and 2, Wupa, Idu, Bassanjiwa, Airport, Gwagwa Dei-Dei, Kagini and Gbazango.”
He declared that the rail system has modern facilities that include ultra modern edifices, modern shopping centres and eateries with the prospect of springing up further economic activities along the tracks and overall positive impact on the growth of the FCT.
