China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the contractor responsible for laying tracks on the Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway project, has announced the successful completion of tracks on the Port Harcourt to Aba section of the corridor.
The disclosure was made through an official statement published on the construction company’s website on Wednesday.
In the statement, CCECC expressed the achievement, stating, “New year, new progress! The tracks laying from Port Harcourt to Aba on the Nigeria Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway project has been completed.”
The completion of this segment marks a crucial milestone in the ongoing development of the national railway network.
Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, had previously assured that the tracks laying from Port Harcourt to Aba on the broader Port Harcourt to Maiduguri corridor would be finalized within 15 days.
The Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railway is an integral component of the nation’s railway infrastructure, promising improved connectivity between local railways, ports, and cities.
The ongoing laying of tracks on the Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri Railway corridor holds substantial potential for contributing to the country’s economic and social development upon its completion.
In 2022, the then Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, announced the commencement of the reconstruction of the Eastern Narrow Railway.
The Federal Government had earlier agreed with a syndicate of Chinese financiers to initiate a $3 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Eastern Railway project.
Under the agreement, the Federal Government is expected to provide 15 percent of the rehabilitation and reconstruction cost, with the Chinese syndicate covering the remainder.
However, in September 2023, Transport Minister Saidu Alkali expressed concerns about the slow pace of CCECC in the reconstruction of the Eastern Railway corridor, attributing it to the contractor’s use of the manual alignment process for track laying.
Upon completion, the Eastern Railway is poised to connect numerous states, including Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno, thereby significantly enhancing rail connectivity across the nation.
