Lagos-Ibadan rail commences commercial operations

The Federal Government has announced the commencement of commercial operations on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.

The Presidency in a Tweet on Monday said the commercial operations commenced today and formal commissioning will be held in the first quarter of 2020.

Also, the Special Assistant to President Buhari on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi via his official Twitter handle said the rail line has commenced operation “with only one trip return” for now.

“For now, according to the NRC, only one return trip daily, leaving Ibadan at 8:00 am for Lagos and leaving Lagos for Ibadan at 4:00 pm,” Ogunlesi said.

Ogunlesi in his tweet added that the “Speed and capacity will increase with time,” because, “there’s still some construction work ongoing.”

See tweets announcing the commencement of the operations below…

A promise delivered. On March 7, 2017, Vice President @ProfOsinbajo broke ground on the standard gauge #LagosIbadanRail line, on behalf of President @MBuhari.

Today, December 7, 2020, the Line commenced commercial operations, ahead of formal commissioning in Q1 2021. #RailUpNG https://t.co/E9SaEataq4

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) December 7, 2020

Commercial operations started on the new #LagosIbadanRail line this morning, Monday Dec 7, 2020. For now, according to the NRC, only one return trip daily, leaving Ibadan at 8am for Lagos and leaving Lagos for Ibadan at 4pm.

— tolu ogunlesi (@toluogunlesi) December 7, 2020

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, last week, while speaking in Abuja at the inauguration of elected members of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA), disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will commission the newly constructed Lagos-Ibadan rail line by January 2021.

The Lagos-Ibadan railway, one of the major projects embarked on by the Federal Government, is being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). (Channels TV)