The Federal Government has commenced the construction of the Port Harcourt- Maiduguri rail line.
The minister said the FG’s first target is to get track-laying from Port Harcourt to Enugu completed.
Amaechi said, “The contractors are working in different gangs across the line simultaneously. Our first target is to get track-laying from Port Harcourt to Enugu completed, then proceed with the next phase.”.
On March 10, 2021, the Federal Government started a $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) Eastern Railway line that starts from the southeastern oil hub of Port Harcourt and terminates at the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
The rail line is expected to link Nigeria’s industrial and agriculture hubs, facilitating the easy movement of people, goods and services.
When completed, it will connect Rivers, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno states.
Amaechi said that the Federal Government is expected to provide about 15% of the $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction cost, while the balance will be provided by a syndicate of Chinese financiers.
The railway expansion drive has been a major policy thrust of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
