Newly Rehabilitated Rail Tracks Disappeared Into Thick Bush

Thick bush has covered the Federal Government’s newly rehabilitated rail loop lines linking various oil tank farms at Apapa, Lagos eight months after operation.
The project which was handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC, has remained unused after it was completed.

The rail to tank farm project which involved laying of tracks into the farm yards, so that petroleum products can be hauled directly into rail tank wagons was completed in December, 2014 and cost the Federal Government N1.6 billion.

The tracks were upgraded from 60 to 85 pounds in order for the tracks to be able to withstand the expected increase in weight that will result from direct haulage of petroleum products by rail. 

Recall that the Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC Engr. Adeseyi Sijuade who spoke through the Director, Mechanical/Electrical Signal and Telecommunications, Engr. Fidet Okhira, told reporters during the inspection of the project last year that the rehabilitation had become imperative because, the tracks were worn out already as they have been there since the colonial days.

Oil companies captured in the project included: A-Z Petroleum, Oando Petroleum, Total Petroleum, Mobil, Eurafric Energy Ltd, and Forte Oil. 

However, the rail lines at Apapa, the newly rehabilitated tracks have disappeared into a thick bush, a sign that eight months after it was completed, the rail line has remained unused. 

Also recall that in May, 2015 at the peak of the fuel crisis that gripped the country with the attendant gridlock along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway, the corporation had said it was in negotiations with Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN as well as the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF, to begin lifting of petroleum products by rail through the rehabilitated rail lines.

Director of Operations, NRC, Mr. Niyi Alli, had told  Vanguard  at the time that the corporation had all the capacity to lift 1.8 million litres, an equivalent of 30 truckloads of PMS at once through rail, adding that once discussions were concluded and all safety concerns resolved, lifting would commence in earnest.

 

He had also noted at the time that the corporation, had “gone ahead to do all the sidings for the major oil marketers and have acquired wagons which are to be used for the movement across the country. We have also engaged the PEF to ensure that the price of PMS is maintained, in terms of the PMS movement. For us, it is all about ensuring that all safety issues are resolved. 

This is because carrying PMS is not the same as carrying AGO. PMS is highly inflammable. But the good news is that all stakeholders are sitting round the table to ensure that safety is not compromised.”

However two months after this engagement started, movement of PMS by the rail has yet to commence, a situation that has left industry watchers wondering what would become of the huge investment made in the rehabilitation of the loop lines for the sole purpose of evacuating petroleum products directly from the oil tank farms.