Fashola advocates rail line resuscitation for effective transport system

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola has urged the Federal Government to give priority to the revival of the moribund rail system in the country for effective transportation of goods and services.
The governor, who gave the advice when he led members of the State Executive Council on inspection of the defunct Nigeria Railway Corporation maintenance yard in Apapa, Lagos, said the  road transport challenges in Apapa axis necessitated the visit aimed at assessing the opportunities that could be harnessed vis-a-viz reducing the dependence on road for transportation of goods out of Lagos.
He said: “This was where goods were evacuated and transported by rail. So, we did not need to fuel, and kill people on the road. That is why we have tankers, containers taking over the road instead of the rail transport system.
“We came here to the maintenance yard to see what really, the situation is and how we can get this back working and let the Federal Government hopefully, see what we are seeing and the best way we can make it useful to the economy.
“I do not know the last time it worked, I do not know what work they do; but it (rail system) is clearly a connection between a robust and reliable means of transportation and economic growth.
“This is industrial sector, this is where the oil and gas sector is and goods and services. The Unipetrol tankers and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) used to move petroleum products in this country through this point. That is what we must get back to. I came here to get a feel of the reality, and look at the way forward. This is a Federal Government asset.
“I will send a report of what I have seen, what is possible and what the realities are, and what we can do with it. So, it’s not enough to buy coaches and say that you have revived rail, how many coaches are running? and until we can move heavy cargoes, goods, containers, fuel on our existing rail networks, then we are far from it, that is economic transformation. So, we cannot abandon this project.”
Fashola  recalled that economic transformation of the British started with the development of rail transport system. The governor  who also inspected the towing trucks which are being refurbished in LASTMA workshop at Oshodi, disclosed that 23 new towing trucks in the operation of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, would soon be released to boost the capacity of the traffic agency in removing broken down vehicles from the roads thereby enhancing free flow of traffic across the state.
He said of the 23 trucks, 12 are ready and set for operation while the remaining 11 are almost at the completion stage of refurbishment and would soon be ready too.
Fashola  who was conducted round the workshop by General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Babatunde Edu,, said the refurbished trucks were part of those earlier condemned and taken out of operation.
He said the initiative to handle the refurbishment in-house became necessary to encourage the culture of maintenance and create jobs locally for young Nigerian graduates in the field of technical /automobile engineering.
He however, lamented the unsatisfactory handling of the towing trucks under a concession arrangement earlier entered into with a private firm, saying that it has compelled the state government to pull back the trucks into direction management by LASTMA, “When the trucks breakdown, we should be able to repair them. And we should spend tax payers’ money like the way we spend our personal money.”