As part of its transformation initiative, Nigeria has  partnered with General Electric to assemble 200 rail Locomotives.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, disclosed this, describing the agreement as an investment spur. He also noted that the locomotives would be assembled over a 10-year period in what he called “a special country-to-country relationship”.

He further explained that upgrading, renovation and development of a multi-billion dollar assembly plant is part of the agreement.

According to the minister,  25 locomotives had already been procured from General Electric while 366 coaches and bandwagons have been refurbished for Nigerian Railway Corporation’s use. The country is also awaiting the delivery of 4 new locomotives in July.

“An order has been placed for two sets of Diesel Multiply Units, of capacity of 640 passengers, each to arrive Abuja in 2013. Another procurement of six modern air conditioned coaches, which has a seating capacity of 68 passengers each, this will arrive in December 2013,” he explained.

Senator Umar went on to note that the president had approved the refurbishing and remodeling of major rail terminals to integrate modern business outlets under the platform of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal.

He said terminals to be remodeled include: Ido Terminal in Lagos State, Ebute Metta junction station, Ilorin station, Kaduna junction station, Kano station, Port Harcourt station, Enugu station, Jos station and Gombe station.

He added that the construction of 274 Kilometer standard gauge line from Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri and the Idu-Kaduna-Abuja lines have reached 77 percent  and 65 percent  completion level respectively. The contract for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan has been awarded and work would commence by year end.

This revitalization process is muted to serve as an alternative means of transportation while improving movement between geopolitical zones , enhancing trade and haulage across the country.