China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) the contractor in charge of laying tracks on the Eastern Narrow Railway project, has announced that it has completed tracks laying on the Port Harcourt to Aba section of the corridor.
CCECC disclosed this via a statement published on the official website of the construction company on Wednesday.
“New year, new progress! The tracks laying from Port Harcourt to Aba on the Nigeria Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway project has been completed,” the statement read in part.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, in an end-of-year interactive session held in Lagos, had assured that the tracks laying from Port Harcourt to Aba on the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri corridor would be ready in 15 days.
The Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway is a vital component of the nation’s railway network which can greatly improve connectivity between local railways, ports, and cities.
The laying of tracks on the Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri Railway corridor is ongoing, possessing the great potential to contribute to the country’s economy and social development upon its completion.
Former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi had announced the commencement of reconstruction of the Eastern Narrow Railway.
On March 10, 2021, the Federal Government agreed with a syndicate of Chinese financers to kickstart a $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Eastern Railway project.
The Federal Government is expected to provide 15 per cent of the $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction cost, while the Chinese syndicate takes up the rest.
In September 2023, the Transport Minister, Saidu Alkali, decried the slow pace of CCECC on the reconstruction of the Eastern Railway corridor, attributing it to the contractor’s use of the manual alignment process of track laying.
The Eastern Railway, when completed will connect Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno States by rail.
