By Uzor Odigbo
Commercial activities on Monday, December 7, 2020, resumed on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.
A Presidential aide, Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, tweeted that the National Railway Corporation (NRC) rail line would conduct only one return trip daily at the moment.
He tweeted: “Commercial operations started on the new #LagosIbadanRail line this morning, Monday, December 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.
“Speed and capacity will increase with time. Keep in mind there’s still some construction work ongoing (Station buildings etc).
“Also likely won’t hit maximum speeds until the line fencing is completed. (Sadly because of some Lagosians’ love for rail-line merchandising).
“The launch train for #LagosIbadanRail commercial operations left Ibadan at 0800hrs this morning, arrived Abeokuta 0858, and departed Abeokuta 0903. It has just arrived Ebute Metta, Lagos, at 1040hrs.
“For now, it’s doing 30-40km/hr in Lagos metropolis”.
Recall that the resumption of commercial operations took off three years after the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, inaugurated the ceremony for the railway project on March 7, 2017.
President Muhammadu Buhari will formally commission the project in the first quarter of next year.
