By Uzor Odigbo
Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has disclosed that preparations are in top gear to resume evacuation of containerised cargoes from Apapa Port in Lagos to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port.
Niyi Ali, NRC’s Director of Operations who disclosed this in a telephone interview, said aside construction work , the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the slow pace of preparation to commence the process.
Ali added that as soon as the Covid-19 issues are addressed, the corporation will start cargo movement from Lagos to Kaduna again .
“Covid-19 has affected all train operations across the country including movement of cargoes to Kaduna Dry Port. We are putting modalities in place to resume the service in an efficient and safe manner, ” he said
NRC had commenced short distance cargo movement from Lagos to Ogun after the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) midwifed a meeting between the corporation and container terminal operator, APMT Apapa.
Lagos District Manager of NRC, Engr. Jerry Oche, earlier said, “A train is made up of 19 wagons and each of the wagons can take one 40feet or two 20feet containers. So, if we are doing 40feet, that is 19 trucks off the road and if it is 20feet, that is 38 trucks off the road per trip. We are starting with two trips per day and we hope to increase it in no distant time.”
Containers will be discharged at Alagomeji Terminals in Yaba and Ijoko Terminals in Ogun State. Trucks can then be deployed to both locations to collect containers and return empties, which the NRC will convey back to the port.
Findings have shown that the Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP) facility is grossly underutilised partly due to inefficient rail service moving cargoes from Lagos to Kaduna.