Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Monday said the laying of tracks of Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line would start in December.
He also said that Jibowu and Costain bridges in Lagos would be demolished to give way for the new railway lines.
Amaechi made the remarks in Lagos when he met with the Steering Committee of the project and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company.
The minister said “The two bridges that we may likely demolish are Jibowu and Costain to give way to the rail lines. But we are rebuilding them immediately; we are not going to abandon them. The challenges will be in the cities like Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan because we have to pay compensation, look at the water pipes, gas pipes, houses and cables. In Lagos especially, we deal with bridges, electric cables and water pipes and other assets.”
Amaechi also said that CCECC was consulting with Lagos State Water Corporation, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, among others, to facilitate relocation of water and gas pipelines that were parallel to the railway line.