LAGOS – The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has earmarked the sum of N8,523,234,152 for the purchase of trains in the 2025 annual budget to the National Assembly.
This is as the Federal Government appropriated the total sum of N39,180,078,449 to the corporation in the appropriation bill sent to the National Assembly for approval.
The corporation did not, however, state how many trains it intended to purchase in 2025 with the N8,523,234,152.
Further breakdown of the budget indicated that the NRC intended to spend another N2,786,725,335 on rehabilitation/repairs of railways in the 2025 financial year period.
Besides, it planned to spend another N2,700,000,000 on the rehabilitation/repair of office buildings, which was not also expatiated in the budget.
According to the proposal, the management also earmarked the sum of N2,000,000,000 for the procurement of diesel for the power cars and locomotives and N1,000,000,000 for the procurement of spare parts, including lubricants for its locomotives, coaches, and wagons within the year. Advertisement
According to the NRC, another N1,684,068,563 was set aside for the procurement and rehabilitation of locomotives and rolling stocks for its trains. The project was marked as “ongoing” in the budget proposal to the National Assembly.
The NRC also planned to expend the sum of N1,186,725,335 as rehabilitation of narrow gauge track from Minna to Barrow with extension to the Baro River Port and marked it as “ongoing.” N1,000,000,000 for the procurement of track materials; N2,734,165,589 for the procurement/rehabilitation of rolling stock for its narrow gauge, which was also marked as “ongoing;” and another N1,100,000,000 for the procurement of rail inspection vehicles, which is also “ongoing.”
There is also N2,000,000,000 earmarked for the rehabilitation of stations and other railway buildings by the corporation, and this was also marked “ongoing” in the budget proposal to the National Assembly.
Others were N40,000,000 for the monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects; N500,000,000 for the rehabilitation of roads into stations, rest houses, workshops, chalets, and operational residential quarters; N800,000,000 for the rehabilitation of tracks, including emergency recovery, bridges, and culverts; N500,000,000 for insurance of locomotives and rolling stocks; and an additional N700,000,000 for the procurement of workshop equipment and rolling stocks.
All these were marked “ongoing” by the corporation in the 2025 budget proposal sent to the National Assembly by the Federal Government.
Besides, NRC also earmarked another N700,000 for the procurement of workshop equipment and rolling stocks; N600,000,000 for the building of a station, platform, and canopy at KM 31 on Itakpe-Aladja; and N700,000,000 for environmental management, coaches cleaning, and debushing.
Another N5,000,000 was earmarked for the upgrading of signaling and telecom systems on the eastern line (Port Harcourt), including a revised estimated total cost for the extension to the western line and N100,000,000 for the provision and installation of televisions at various passenger waiting rooms of the train stations.
Source: INDEPENDENT
