Abuja (Nigeria): The Minister of Transportation, Mr Said Alkali, says the damaged portions of the Abuja–Kaduna tracks will be fixed within the next 10 days.
Alkali said this on Monday in Abuja, while addressing journalists after inspecting ongoing development at the site of the train derailment.
Some portions of the rail tracks and coaches were destroyed last Tuesday after a Kaduna-bound train derailed at Asham Station.
According to him, the staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have been working day and night to ensure that the clearing and repairing of the damaged tracks are done at the earliest possible time.
He commended security agencies and other stakeholders for their efforts in ensuring the safety of passengers, workers and train facilities at the site.
“I thank President Bola Tinubu for his support since the incident occurred in ensuring that we move the locomotive and the coaches and fixed the rail line to restart operation.
” From what I have seen, I also want to commend the Managing Director of the NRC and his team, because they are on the site day and night trying to restore normalcy after the incident,” he said.
The minister, who stated that his team had conducted a thorough investigation, explained, however, that he was not in a position to pre-empt the inquiry.
“I am here with the whole team from the Ministry of Transportation, the Director of Railway and all his engineers, and even the committee doing the investigation.
” The CCECC is here, Civil Rights Organisation, all of us are here to ensure we do justice to the inquiry.
Alkali, who stated that the eight affected coaches would be relocated from the site within the next two days, added that the section of the track affected by the accident was approximately 150 meters long.
” So it’s not something too long. We will be able to repair the sleepers, pallets, and rail track so that we will be back in operation.
“It is a cardinal responsibility of government to provide welfare for its citizens. The teams are doing their best to ensure a similar occurrence does not happen again.
“However, it is the outcome of the investigations that will now reveal what actually happened. Then we look at it and ensure it doesn’t happen again by the grace of God Almighty,” he said.