(Lagos)
The management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) say they have re-commenced freight wagon operations from Lagos port to other parts of the country.
Mr Jerry Oche, the District manager of the Corporation, stated this in Lagos when the first freight wagon left Lagos to Zaria on Wednesday.
According to him, the Corporation run the first long hall freight wagon after a long period.
“The last time we had the long hall freight wagon was before the COVID-19 while the freight wagon left Lagos to Zaria for more than a year now.
” What you are witnessing this afternoon is a movement of first long train from Lagos District office to Zaria.
“We have 6, 000 industrial pipe 0n ground going to Zaria and if we calculate how many pipe per a wagon, we will be calculating over 27 train to exhaust it.
“It has been long we have embark on the kind of journey but we might have to stop them when it gets dark.
Hopefully by Friday or Saturday due to the stop over they might encounter, they should be able to arrived to Zaria,”Oche said.
He said that the corporation had already sent two train one at Ibadan and the other at Minna ahead of the freight wagon to patrol the line.
The Lagos District Manager also said they also engaged the maintenance staff to check the if engine is faulty and a senior staff who would be feeding them with report while on movement.
He said that the corporation had commenced Apapa Shuttle of carriage of consignment from the ports while he pleaded with port users to patronise them end gridlock in the port environment.
He said before the Convid-19 that they carried 19 wagon of consignment which means that they had taken off 19 truck of the road saying the train that just left to Zaria was 16 wagons.
Oche said Lagos District office had 6 rakes of which is 19 wagon only one had gone to Zaria now and other five are still available to port patronage.
Oche, however, solicited the support of Port to improve document processing, to enable them embark on many trips as possible to decongest the port and reduce gridlock.
