Federal Government has announced that the Abuja-Kaduna rail project will be set for commercial use in July 2016.
Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi while on a test ride of the rail project on Wednesday, told newsmen that the Buhari administration was committed to ensuring the sustenance of the rail project upon completion in July.
Amaechi said the cost of conveying passengers will be subsidized, though government was still working on the cost details.
“We are looking at bringing Mr. President to commission in July. In two weeks’ time, they will do the test run of the track without passengers, after that two weeks, it will take another two weeks to do test run with passengers and it will be free of charge and that will take us to the end of June. Which means by first week in July, we believe that the president will come and flag it off for commercial service,” he said.
“Is it sustainable? The answer is yes because it’s on its own. If you say whether it will be subsidized, it will be. We are working out the details of how much it will cost to carry passengers and to maintain it,” he said.
