Minister backs reintroduction of Kaduna city train service

Minister of Transport, Sen. Sa’idu Alkali has pledged to support the plan by Kaduna State Government to reintroduce train services in Kaduna, which was suspended years ago.

A statement on Thursday by the spokesperson of the ministry, Mr Ahmed Yidikawu, said the minister made the pledge in Abuja when a met with a delegation from the state.

The minister said he was fully committed to transforming the transport sector by adding more value through partnerships.

“As the Kaduna government plan to embark on provision of special train mass transit service to it’s citizens we would fully support the initiative.

“I will partake at every level of discussions in order to actualise the project. We will work together to achieve the feat,” Alkali added.

He said that the ministry had set up a technical committee to design a Memorandum of Understanding and urged the committee to conclude the assignment, to fast track the take off of the trains services.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Prof. Muhammed Bello had appealed to the ministry to support the initiative as it would promote the sector and ease cost of transportation on citizens.

Mr Felix Okhiria, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation said that some state governments, including Kaduna and Plateau, had indicated interest in the mass transit train service.

He said the initiative would cushion the effects of the subsidy removal, enhance passenger safety and convenience.