By Lola Idahosa, Kaduna
The plan by the Federal Government to link state capitals with rail line will boost the Nigerian economy,Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Dr Aminu Musa-Yusuf, has said. He told Journalists in Zaria that the move would promote genuine national growth and integration
According to him,”if actualized, it would make Nigerian roads last longer and reduce the rate of accidents on the roads.This is a very good development because Nigeria is a very vast country. Our resources are also vast and the population has been growing over the years.So the transportation infrastructure demands for both passengers and goods have also increased over the years.”
“Remember, rail transport has a lot of advantages over road transport, especially in long distances.We have over 40 cities in Nigeria with increasing travel demands which, therefore, call for rail connectivity to ease transportation constraints,”he said.
Yusuf said a network of rail linking state capitals would make mobility easy, efficient,while effective movement of passengers and goods to different parts of the country at cheaper rate would be much easier.
The NITT ,he said,is a multi-model training institute, that deals with all modes of transport while their major concern was human capacity development of the operators of the system.
“In this regard, our major input toward this laudable dream will be the training of railway manpower.
“However, we provide training not only in rail system, but also road,aviation and maritime, with a view to improving efficiency and effectiveness.
“So, we are very important stakeholders in rail and other modes of transport.!it is not impossible for haulage transport system operation to frustrate government’s efforts to revive the railways.Trailers and train serve different purposes. Very soon, the train will run side-by-side with trailers in Nigeria just like any in other advanced country.”
He said a train could carry 40 wagons at a time and these wagons could transport goods that many trailers would convey.
