The construction of the Ibadan-Kano railway will commence early in 2020 according to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi who was on an inspection tour of the project. The US$5.3billion project is being undertaken by the China Civil Engineering Construction Company who have just completed the 156 km Lagos to Ibadan section of the standard gauge railway
Completion date
The minister was not happy with the progress with construction the stations along the Lagos-Ibadan route as this has been scheduled for completion in April next year while he would have preferred completion in February. The contractor has given the December holiday as being the reason for the April date.
The minister also urged the contractor to source materials from local suppliers for doors, windows and tiles so as to boost local industries rater than importing the materials from China.
According to the minister the hope is to have the construction of the Ibadan-Kano railway completed by 2023 before the present regime leaves office and looses any claim for completing the project.
Lagos-Kano SGR
Construction of the Ibadan-Kano railway is part of the 2,700-km Lagos–Kano rail standard gauge line which will offer transport connections from the Port of Lagos to Kano, near the border with Niger.
The sections completed are the 187km Abuja-Kaduna section and the 156km Lagos to Ibadan section. The present project will be in 4 sections namely the 200km Ibadan-Ilorin section, the Ilorin-Minna section a distance of 270km and then the Abuja, Kaduna and finally Kano a distance of 300km.
The railway will form a vital link from the sea at Port Harcourt to Kano in the north near the border with Niger.