NRC to start passenger transportation on Eastern route by December – Official

Passenger service on the Eastern railway route will commence before the end of December, an official of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

District Manger, NRC, Eastern zone, Felix Njoku, made the plan known in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia.

Njoku said the Eastern route of NRC stretches from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri through Makurdi and Kuru ,near Jos.

He said that the December date was based on the successful rehabilitation of some parts of the Eastern rail route.

Njoku explained that trains noticed along Port Harcourt/Enugu end of the Eastern route were conveying equipment from Port Harcourt Wharf to Ehamufu Railway Station in Enugu State.

He said that with the successful movement of the train from Port Harcourt to Ehamufu, the corporation was happy.

Njoku explained that the contract for the rehabilitation of the Eastern track was sub-divided into three to ensure fast realisation of the project.

Njoku said that the project on the third end, from Kuru to Maiduguri, was hampered by security challenges in the area.

He said with the reconnection of all the disconnected rail lines from Port Harcourt to Enugu, NRC hoped to commence passenger service before December.