The management of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Eastern District has commenced full rail services within the precincts after a protracted revitalisation programme by the Federal Government to return the rail system of transport in the country to its glorious days.

NRC’s Eastern District Manager, Mr. Felix Njoku said in a press release issued in Enugu that, "in a bid to revitalise the rail sector in Nigeria, Federal Government awarded contracts for the rehabilitation work of the western and eastern railway lines.

“Most of the track materials required for the eastern line rehabilitation have been imported and delivered to Port Harcourt station. To enhance speed of rehabilitation work, the contractor (ESER West Africa) has successfully connected all the missing sections of the lines between Port Harcourt and Enugu."

Njoku said NRC had deployed one locomotive and several open flat wagons from Enugu to Port Harcourt which confirmed that the major challenges faced on the rehabilitation project had been surmounted.

He said the Nyaba Bridge in Enugu, the reconstruction of the heavy washout at Eziama in Aba and the re-construction of Bridge 3 in Port Harcourt were all completed.

The Eastern District Manager further disclosed that movement of the imported track materials by rail from Port Harcourt to various locations along the eastern railway corridor where they are needed for rehabilitation work has commenced adding that items to be lifted in the operations include; 13,5000 pieces of 12 meter long UIC 50 Rails, 165,000 pieces of steel sleepers, associated fish plates, pandrol clips, bolts and knots.

Managing Director, NRC, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade disclosed that the, "delivery of 16,795 tons of railway track materials will result in the removal of 560 Trailer trips from the road, thereby reducing the potential of road accidents and damage to the roads."

Maxymilliano: Seem the NRC has finally woken up from a prolong slumber, few years ago, the corporation was reported to be grossly underperforming, with the facilities underutilized, but at this rate of rapid transformations, I see the NRC bouncing back into reckoning to serve as backbone for human and haulage transportation in Nigeria.

maxwello.yg:
This fresh air is too good.
It can ressurect a dead man.

talktimi: Bad belle people are here already una welcome o

naptu2: Yesterday I said "next destination is the Eastern Line" and today I saw this. So now I'll say, next destination is the Central Line (Itakpe to Warri). (Let's see if the magic will work again).

Symphony007: thank you my dear. Our journey here was smooth.

SNOWWHITE240: what i need is fast speed trains like dos obtained in europe not dis dis locomotives

gramci: Where are the evil men of nairaland

[size=14pt]GE’s $1B Investment In Cross River: Sambo, Imoke, Angbazor Lead Groundbreaking Ceremony[/size]

19/06/2013 05:53:00 THEWILL

[img]http://thewillnigeria.com/thumbnail.php?file=ngf13_514021300.jpg&size=article_medium[/img]

L-R; PHEL GRIFFTH OF GENERAL ELECTRIC; MINISTER OF POWER PROF. CHINNEDU NEBO; MR. SAMUEL ARTOM; VP NAMADI SAMBO; GOV LIYEL IMOKE & VICE CHAIRMAN G.E, MR. JOHN RICE DURING THE GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY OF GENERAL ELECTRIC'S FACILITY IN CALBAR. JUNE 18, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, (THEWILL) - Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo; Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke; General Electric’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lazarus Agbazor; and Vice Chairman, GE, Mr. John Rice, Tuesday led the groundbreaking ceremony of General Electric's $1bn (N160B) multi model service and manufacturing facility located at the Calabar Free Trade zone.
 
In 2009, General Electric signed a landmark country-to-company agreement with the Federal Government aimed at forging a strategic partnership that will see the two parties working together on high growth opportunities and investments in support of vision 2020 and in January, 2013, the federal government and GE of the United States sealed the $1bn investment for the establishment of a new manufacturing and assembly facility in Calabar.
 
Also at the groundbreaking ceremony were the Global Supply Chair Leader of GE, Mr. Phel Griffith; Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo; and Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Mr. Samuel Artom.
 
Faith played itself out when the initiative of the Governor, then serving Minister of Power and Steel was instrumental to the setting up of a framework where an MOU was signed between GE and FGN mandating GE to setup a plant in Nigeria way back in 2004. GE settled for Calabar, Cross River State without any influence from the State Government.
 
In the words Governor Imoke, “Cross River State has remained at the fore-front of Tourism and Hospitality Development. Over the years we have consistently invested in the development of policies that accelerate the development of the State’s economy. This no doubt has further positioned the State as a first choice for investors. GE which is the 3rd biggest company in the world is joining other investors in tapping into an economy that is ready for the future. Ours is a natural fit.”
 
According to Mr. Nzan Ogbe, Special Adviser, Governors Office, the state was chosen because of its exceptional enabling business climate for investment as well as supporting infrastructure such as functional sea and airports, free trade zone and a well articulated investment policy.
 
THEWILL affirms that Cross River State is also the most secure state in Nigeria with a crime rate of less than 2% and a fully integrated emergency response centre that is fully operational.
 
[size=13pt]The plant would be designed for the manufacture of generator turbines for power plants, coaches for trains, engines for aircrafts as well as hospital equipment, among others.[/size]
 
Also with General Electric setting up in Calabar, it would attract a lot of other investment from allied companies who typically follow GE’s lead as their risk assessment and endorsement of Calabar mitigates any risk hitherto envisaged by potential investors as Cross Rivers due diligence mechanism is world class.
 
In consonance with GE setting up a manufacturing plant in the state, other multinationals in the last one year have done same viz; Wilmar group, Songhai Farms, Dansa, UPDC investing in housing development (Golf Estate) and ARM investing in the hotel and hospitality sector (CICC hotel).
 
The Special adviser, Investment promotions, Mr. Gerald Ada, also noted that according to GE’s due diligence of Cross River State, about 300 Nigerian professional engineers and technicians would be employed in the GE factory, and that provision would be made for the training of young Nigerians through the company’s technology transfer programme.

naptu2: I hope I don't get banned by the anti-spam bot.

There are two complaints that recur:

1) The trains are old.

2) We need high speed rail services.

Well, in response to (1) above, General Electric are building a plant in Calabar where new train engines and coaches will be built for the NRC.

In response to (2), I believe that we need a mix of train services and it seems that governments across the country are working to get us that mix. We need:

A) Heavy rail to carry goods. This will reduce costs, encourage investors, increase the lifespan of our roads, etc.


2) High speed passenger trains. This will reduce journey time, reduce travel costs and give citizens a choice (train vs plane vs road), etc.


3) Metro. To decongest our roads, improve productivity and efficiency, etc.

naptu2: The major new rail lines that have been planned are (in no particular order)

1) The East-West rail line

2) The line to Abuja

3) The high speed rail line from Abuja to Lagos.

At the moment they are rehabilitating existing lines, but one of the reasons GEJ went to China last week is to get a loan for the line to Abuja (and the Abuja metro).