We Will Create 250,000 New Jobs from Railway — Amaechi

The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed the federal government has plans to embark on massive railway infrastructure development across the country, saying that works on railway lines when they start in 2016 could absorb as much as 250,000 people.

He said: “The railways has suffered significant neglect even though it is the cheapest mode of transportation. The current state of railway is an indication of severe neglect and it is a chaotic situation, with government spending without any return on investment. 

“Government will focus on railway to encourage mass transit of and cargo freights by railway. The current government is planning massive investment into the standard gauge whose constructions will begin 2016, with the Calabar-Lagos coastal railway."

The minister also said from its current 1.41 per cent contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), the ministry of transportation under his leadership would work to raise transport sector’s contribution to GDP, stressing that the current contribution was unacceptable.

Minister Amaechi on Wednesday ended his tour of transport facilities and agencies in Lagos which he began last week, touring airport facilities at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and its environs before he briefed journalists about his findings and the administration’s plan for the sector.

The minister who noted that Nigeria suffers the bane of inadequate transport infrastructure, said the federal government would use opportunities that abound in the sector to build the economy as such countries as South Korea and Singapore.