Petroleum products to be lifted via rail before March.

   Petroleum products in Nigeria will be lifted through rail before March 2016 according to the MD of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Adeseyi Sijuwade and the focus on 2016 is to enhance movement of goods by rail as before now most goods and products in the country were transported via roads.

 

   Adeseyi Sijuwade, the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on Thursday, February 4 said that petroleum products will be lifted through rail across Nigeria before March 2016.

Enginner Adeseyi Sijuwade

While briefing the Senate Committee on Transport chaired by Senator Olugbenga Ashafa, he said that in 2016, the corporation hopes to begin lifting diesel from Apapa to Kaduna and Lagos while also improving on its passenger services.

He said: ”The focus on 2016 will be on frieght, we intend to enhance movement of goods by rail, we are talking about bonded containers from Apapa.

”We are also looking this quarter at starting the commercial movement of petroleum products, that is AGO (diesel) from Oando and a number of marketers from Apapa Lagos to Kaduna and Kano.

”Each of the tank wagons that we have has a capacity of 45,000 liters and the average train will take about 20 tanks so we are talking about 900,000 liters of oil that will go on every single train.

”We are expecting to have at least for starters, one train per week, going from Apapa to depots in Kaduna and Kano,” he said.

He also said that the NRC hopes to increase its routes for transportation of cement and petroleum products.

He added that the completion of rails and moving of products through the rail lines will reduce the burden on Nigerian roads stressing that it was an urgent need.

”There is a need to see a sharp migration from moving goods through roads to moving goods through rails to reduce the congestion on our roads. That is our focus for the year 2016,” he said.

In his remark, Senator Ashafa while querying the corporation’s budget, said that the committee will be in Lagos on Monday for oversight function.

Meanwhile, Senate president, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, February 3 challenged the management of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited to put an end to gas flaring in the country.

Saraki stated this when the management of the NLNG, led by its managing director, Babs Omotowa visited him in Abuja, according to him, it was high time the gas being flared is converted to something more productive as well as ensure the use of cleaner energy in the country.